Registration to end for birding marathon

Area bird watchers interested in testing their endurance and willpower in an exhausting but rewarding 24-hour marathon can register until 5 p.m. this afternoon for the 15th annual Monroe County Bird-A-Thon. The midnight-to-midnight birdwatching extravaganza will be held May 7. \n"Teams are usually friends who like to go birdwatching and have a competitive spirit," said naturalist Cathy Meyer of the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Foundation.\nAll the teams involved will receive a T-shirt and valuable identification information to use during the competition, according to a press release. Each team will contain three to six members.\nMeyer said the Bird-A-Thon's is usually about five or six teams, and she expects around the same number of birders for this year's event. \nThe cost for registration, which includes the shirt and bird information, is $15. In addition, each team will gather as many pledges from sponsors as possible, with the proceeds going to a charity of the team's choice. The most common charity recipient of the Bird-A-Thon funds is the Sassafras Audubon Society, the Bloomington chapter of the National Audubon Society, an organization dedicated to promoting knowledge and understanding of the importance of wildlife. \nAwards for displaying excellent birdwatching skills will be given at a potluck dinner May 8 to both the team with the highest number of species spotted and to the best rookie team. Newcomers will have a great chance at scoring a prize, Meyer said. The total of 175 bird species residing in Monroe County provides a lofty goal for even the most ambitious birders competing for prizes.\nBird-A-Thon applications can be picked up at the Monroe County Parks and Recreation office building, 290 W. Seventh St., or Wild Birds Unlimited, 1101 N. College Ave., a bird store sponsoring the event. \nWild Bird, a bird superstore that sells a wide assortment of bird seed and feeding, also offers products for the less involved bird appreciator, said David Daniels, Wild Birds Unlimited owner.\n"Most people (who shop here) just get bird seed, but we also have a lot of people coming in for our nature gifts and other commodities," Daniels said.\nTheir involvement in the Bird-A-Thon is natural because of their function, Daniels said.\n"It goes hand-in-hand with what we do," Daniels said. "We're really into birding and we love to be active in the community."\nDaniels said all the major species of birds should be highly prevalent in Monroe County by early May.\n"European starlings and American robins are the most common species that the contestants will find in town," Daniels said. \nMost of the teams will find between 120 and 130 different species of birds on their excursion, he said.\n"The teams that do the best will be the ones who cover as many different habitat types as possible," Daniels said. "Red-winged blackbirds will be prevalent in the wetlands, but it is also important to get to the forests and other rural areas."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Beal at mdbeal@indiana.edu.