WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY & GLOBAL BIG BIRDING DAY, SATURDAY 8TH MAY 2021
Theme: Sing, Fly and Soar like a bird
Tanzania is indeed a very beautiful country and important for biodiversity conservation. It is endowed with diverse biodiversity including birds, with more than 1,200 recorded bird species. These birds are important to our economy (avian tourism) and they also provide us a range of ecosystem services i.e. pest control, pollination for food production etc.
On the 8th May 2021, the world will come together celebrating our migratory birds. The same day will be used to celebrate the Global Big Birding Day (you will remember how Tanzania was very competitive last October, being second in Africa and 12th globally).
ABOUT WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY (WMBD)
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It aims to draw attention to the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. For more details, please visit https://www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/
ABOUT GLOBAL BIG BIRDING DAY
Global Birding is a new venture formed by Tim Appleton MBE that aims to inspire birdwatchers to come together as a global community and celebrate birds, by participating in birdwatching, birdwatching events, citizen science and conservation. For more details, please visit https://globalbirding.org/global-big-day
TEAM TANZANIA FORMED FOR COORDINATION
In supporting this mission, at the national level, Team Tanzania (this includes all birders, birding clubs and individuals in Tanzania) has been formed. The team is planning to raise AWARENESS about bird identification, conservation and their values in tourism to our National Parks, Games Reserves etc. Females are encouraged to participate.
As Team Tanzania, we have an important role to play in putting Tanzania country on the international maps. By participating in these two international events we will not only raise local awareness of birds’ importance to our life-supporting systems e.g. pollination and tourism revenues but also raise the country’s profile internationally. To achieve this we recommend the following to you.
- We encourage every Tanzanian (at the individual level, family level or in a group) to participate in the Global Big Birding Day challenge.
- In order to participate in the above challenge, please watch and record birds either at your home garden or nearby birding hotspots on the 8th May 2021 i.e. from midnight to midnight of 8th May 2021.
- The output will be a generated checklist of birds which will be used for national interest i.e. to inform conservation actions, promotion avian tourism in our National Parks, game reserves and other protected areas.
- We encourage the use of mobile apps (BirdLasser or ebird) in recording bird species. These apps can be downloaded from Android playstores. Those having difficulties in using the apps can consult us or do list bird species on notebook and send it to us. Please record all birds (common and uncommon – remember, every single bird matters a lot!).
- For planning and coordination, please let us know where you will be birding on the 8th May 2021 using the contact details below. Please also encourage other Tanzanians to join the challenge, the more we are, the more birds will be seen and therefore the high chance of winning at international levels.
- We request all birdwatchers to share their list through the email teamtanzania.birds@gmail.com or the following WhatsApp numbers 0753111084 and 0783580909.
- The shared list from different people, groups and birding clubs will be compiled to get a national list of birds observed during this special international Migratory Bird Day.
- The national list will be shared with the Global Big Birding Day for participation in the International Competition.
The winning country will be the one with the most recorded bird species within 24 hrs. Tanzania is a big country therefore more volunteers across the country are needed. Our special and endemic birds should our target. So our good friends in Eastern Arc Mountains, Minziro, coastal forests etc, your participation is needed. You don’t need to travel far but consider inviting more people across the country to participate in the challenge.
Kindly join and participate to conserve birds and nature!