BEN Banner #48
 Bird Conservation Through Education TM

April 26, 2012 

In This Issue
IMBD 2012
Celebrate IMBD with Flying WILD bird festivals
Education Effort Marks 25 Years of Joint Ventures
Focus On Diversity Conference: Save the Date
Thanks to our BEN Bulletin sponsor:
 
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BEN
    
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The Bird Education Network (BEN) was created following the February 2007 National Gathering, hosted by the Council for Environmental Education (CEE). BEN is a CEE initiative that seeks to connect and support a community of bird education professionals.

 

Over 3,000 individuals representing 300 organizations receive communications and engage in professional dialogue through the BEN-run Bird Education Listserv. 

 

A BEN Committee has been established to provide advice and guidance for this important initiative, to advance "bird conservation through education."




Quick Links
International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD)

 

IMBD is Saturday, May 12th. As part of this celebration, the annual bird conservation theme will focus on 20 ways people may help preserve birds every day.  

There are lots of ways to get involved through IMBD in bird conservation, bird education, habitat projects, and birdwatching. IMBD provides the framework for events as well as the opportunity to motivate people of all ages to get outdoors to learn about birds. 
 
The official date for IMBD in the U.S. and Canada is the second Saturday in May each year, but today, IMBD programs, events, and festivals are held year-round. These are held at schools, parks, libraries, museums, zoos, refuges, nature centers and other locations accessible to the public. 


For more information visit www.birdday.org

 
Celebrate the Season with Flying WILD!

Flying WILD Bird FestivalGet ready to celebrate the season with the birds! With spring underway -- this is a perfect time to rally with the IMBD community, school events, and spring festival schedules with Flying WILD.

 

Consider hosting a Flying WILD bird festival. Flying WILD: An Educator's Guide to Celebrating Birds is a complete resource for everything you need to host a bird festival. In addition to activities, the festival can include educational games, lectures, art displays, live bird demonstrations, and bird walks. 

 

By conducting a Flying WILD bird festival, students are able to engage in learning with other students. Festivals are also a great way to engage other schools and outside community members. In short, they are a great opportunity to bring people together to celebrate birds, one of the world's most valuable resources while encouraging bird conservation. Experience the fun! Check out this video of a student at a Flying WILD bird festival talkin' turkey!

Flying WILD - Turkey Knowledge.wmv

Flying WILD bird festivals are just one of the many great benefits of the Flying WILD program. To learn more about Flying WILD, bird festivals, training opportunities, or how to order the Flying WILD guide, visit www.flyingwild.org.

Welcome Flying WILD's newest City Partners:

  • Santa Ana Watershed Association (Riverside, CA)
  • Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center (Joplin, MO)
  • National Aviary (Pittsburg, PA) 
  • Tracy Aviary (Salt Lake City, UT)
Education Effort Marks 25 Years of Joint Ventures

This year marks 25 years of Migratory Bird Joint Ventures (often called "JVs" in bird conservation-speak).  These are cooperative, multi-partner, regional partnerships working to conserve habitat for the benefit of birds, other wildlife, and people. These Joint Ventures are dedicated to achieving a vision of landscape-scale bird conservation through expansive partnerships to protect the habitats that birds, and people, rely on for survival.

If you are unfamiliar on how JVs have evolved and how they operate, click here.
 

The National Joint Venture Communications, Education, and Outreach Team (CEOT) has put together a "Joint Venture Media Outreach Toolkit" to assist the Migratory Bird Joint Ventures with conducting outreach to varied audiences around the theme of the 25th Anniversary of the JVs (1987-2012).

The team envisions individual bird educators or concerned institutions adapting these multiple tools to best suit regional needs. Keeping this in mind, the overall content and feel of these tools is intentionally general, although some JV-specific examples are also provided, examples that you may wish to use or adapt.

Click here to find some ideas, suggestions, and best practices for how to use the various tools.
 

Even if you are not involved in a Joint Venture in your area, the toolkit shows some excellent ways to explain this important vehicle for dynamic bird conservation.

Save the Date- October 13, 2012
Focus On Diversity: Changing the Face of American Birding

diversity conference logoBe a part of birding history as we move toward a broader and stronger birding community for everyone.

 
Why is this important? Getting new audiences interested in birding will benefit those new birders, the birding community, the environment in general, and, of course, the birds themselves!  
The objective of this event is to promote effective outreach to more diverse audiences with birding opportunities, outdoor recreation, and conservation messages. By sharing the great outdoors together, we will enhance our lives and promote a strong societal conservation ethic.

Who should attend?
Anyone that cares about birds and the birding community. The conference will be ideal for nature centers' staff, park departments, educators, birding club members, and anyone else from the Midwest region that is interested in making a difference for bird conservation and their fellow citizens.
 

When & Where: Saturday, October 13, 2012 at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge - Bloomington, MN

 
Click here to view a stellar list of panelists and presenters for the conference.
 

Get involved and shape the future of birding!

BEN: Connecting Bird Educators TM
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Newsletter maintained by: The Council for Environmental Education, Flying WILD and the BEN Committee.