America's Birdiest City/County

This just in, from Phil Pryde of San Diego Audubon. This is a very clever, enjoyable, and increasingly popular birding competition. Check it out!

2006 America's Birdiest City/County competition
The 6th annual America's Birdiest City and Birdiest County contests will conducted once again in April and May of 2006.

The objectives of the "America's Birdiest City/County" contest are quite simple: to see which cities and counties in the various categories can document the highest count of bird species during a selected 72-hour period within its city (or county) limits during the month of April or May.

Because cities and counties come in greatly different sizes, and because some parts of the country (such as coastlines) have inherently more species of birds than others, there are 9 categories in the competition. They, and the 2005 winners, are:
Large Coastal City Corpus Christi, TX
Large Inland City Chicago, IL
Small Coastal City Dauphin Island, AL
Small Inland City Duluth, MN
Inland Eastern County St. Louis County, MN
Inland Western County Kern County, CA
Coastal Gulf Coast County Nueces County, TX
Coastal Atlantic County Kings County, NY
Coastal Pacific County Monterey and San Diego, CA

Cities and counties of all sizes are invited to join the competition in 2006.

The key to success is having lots of birders in the field-- there's no limit on the number of participants. Combining the event with a fund-raising birdathon is often a good route to success. And you pick your own optimum dates.

To participate, just send an e-mail to the address below, and indicate whether you wish to enter one of the City contests, one of the County contests, or both. You'll receive the complete rules of the competition by return e-mail.

It's fine to decide at the last minute if you want to participate; there's no "sign up" deadline. However, you should enter early enough to get organized, and do send an e-mail requesting a copy of the competition rules.

The ABC/C competition is primarily a fun event, but it’s also a good educational and public relations event as well. Start making plans to field your city or county’s team now! For more information, contact:
Phil Pryde, San Diego Audubon Society, ABC/C coordinator
e-mail: PhilPinSD@cox.net