Everglades National Park Hosts Big Day Birding Adventure

HOMESTEAD, Florida – The public is invited to participate in the Big Day Birding Adventure, a “citizen science” activity to count birds within the varied habitats of Everglades National Park.

Meet at the Anhinga Trail parking area at 8:00 a.m. on the following Saturdays: January 18, February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15, and March 29. The Anhinga Trail is in the Royal Palm area of Everglades
National Park, about four miles past the Main Entrance to the park, or 15 miles southeast of the town of Homestead. Be prepared to drive your own car over 40 miles one-way to points of interest along the Main Park Road. The activity lasts about 6 hours and ends at Flamingo. Participants should pack a lunch and water and prepare for sun and mosquitoes. Some walking is involved.

“This is a great opportunity for novice and experienced birders alike to observe and learn about the birds of the Everglades…and to explore the park’s diverse habitats: from freshwater marsh to pine rockland to mangrove swamp to Florida Bay,” says Everglades National Park Superintendent Dan Kimball. “Rangers report usually seeing around 60 species of birds, with a possibility of viewing such feathered wonders as Purple Gallinules, Roseate Spoonbills, and rare Short-tailed Hawks.”

Count results will be posted on the park’s website and on Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s online bird database, eBird.

“The public is becoming increasingly involved in ‘citizen science’ activities,” says Superintendent Kimball. “Bird count data can help to show trends in bird populations around the world, so scientists and
managers may decide if further research or conservation efforts are appropriate for particular species.”

For more information contact Christi Carmichael at 239-695-3092, or [email protected].

*WHAT:* Big Day Birding Adventure, a “citizen science” activity to count birds within the varied habitats of Everglades National Park.

*WHEN: *Meet at the Anhinga Trail parking area at 8:00 a.m. on the following Saturdays: January 18, February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15, and March 29.

*WHERE:* The Anhinga Trail is in the Royal Palm area of Everglades National Park, about four miles past the Main Entrance to the park, or 15 miles southeast of the town of Homestead. Be prepared to drive your own
car over 40 miles one-way to points of interest along the Main Park Road.

More information on Everglades National Park can be found on the park website at http://www.nps.gov/ever

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.