San Juan, PR – May 8, 2020 – The San Juan Bay Estuary Program (Estuary) joins the global birding celebration, Global Big Day, this coming Saturday, May 9. This event engages citizens in the process of collecting data on bird sightings. Participants enter the information into a database called eBird, which they must download to their device. This data is used by the Estuary and other entities to assess ecosystems and habitats in Puerto Rico. The Estuary encourages families to join this passive recreation event from their homes. Participants can do so from their windows, balconies, or sidewalks, recording the data on the birds they spot.
“All activities this year are different due to the social distancing required by the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, the Estuary will not be gathering people to go birdwatching from a common point, but rather from their respective locations. This offers us an opportunity to obtain data distributed throughout Puerto Rico,” reported Brenda Torres Barreto, executive director of the Estuary. “The urban area of the Puerto Rico metropolitan region is covered in concrete, its green corridors are limited, and economic and recreational activity is high. Therefore, the data we obtain will be evaluated taking this context into account for the development of public policy and the development of natural resource management practices,” added Torres Barreto.
Globally, the Global Big Day event is organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the United States, the creators of the eBird platform. Last year, 35,000 people from 127 countries participated, generating more than 90,000 sighting reports of 6,967 bird species.
Through Christmas bird counts in partnership with the Audubon Society and year-round bird counts, the Estuary has relied on birds as an indicator of the health of its water system in the metropolitan region. This year, the Estuary will conduct a scientific analysis of bird sighting data from the past three years. This will provide a health assessment of habitats within the San Juan Bay Estuary system, following protocols approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the Estuary offers a citizen science certification program dedicated to birdwatching, open to all citizens.
Participants must register on the eBird platform by accessing: https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-9-may-2020. For more information about the Estuary's efforts, you can visit the social media accounts: EstuarioSanJuan or visit the website www.estuario.org.
“All activities this year are different due to the social distancing required by the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, the Estuary will not be gathering people to go birdwatching from a common point, but rather from their respective locations. This offers us an opportunity to obtain data distributed throughout Puerto Rico,” reported Brenda Torres Barreto, executive director of the Estuary. “The urban area of the Puerto Rico metropolitan region is covered in concrete, its green corridors are limited, and economic and recreational activity is high. Therefore, the data we obtain will be evaluated taking this context into account for the development of public policy and the development of natural resource management practices,” added Torres Barreto.
Globally, the Global Big Day event is organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the United States, the creators of the eBird platform. Last year, 35,000 people from 127 countries participated, generating more than 90,000 sighting reports of 6,967 bird species.
Through Christmas bird counts in partnership with the Audubon Society and year-round bird counts, the Estuary has relied on birds as an indicator of the health of its water system in the metropolitan region. This year, the Estuary will conduct a scientific analysis of bird sighting data from the past three years. This will provide a health assessment of habitats within the San Juan Bay Estuary system, following protocols approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the Estuary offers a citizen science certification program dedicated to birdwatching, open to all citizens.
Participants must register on the eBird platform by accessing: https://ebird.org/news/global-big-day-9-may-2020. For more information about the Estuary's efforts, you can visit the social media accounts: EstuarioSanJuan or visit the website www.estuario.org.
