Champions of the Flyway is a new major international bird race taking place in Eilat, Israel – one of the world’s most spectacular migration hot spots and rewarding birding destinations. Competing teams from around the world will try to find, identify and log as many species as possible – as they go head-to-head in an intense 24 hour contest to win the coveted title “Champions of the Flyway”. While the race will be fun, the goal is serious: to raise conservation funding that will help BirdLife International tackle the illegal killing of birds in southern and eastern Europe. We are pleased to be attending to highlight the challenges that migratory birds face in southern and eastern Europe and help develop the international eBird community. Our team consists of eBird Project Leaders Chris Wood and Marshall Iliff, and Merlin Project Leader Jessie Barry. Unfortunately, we just learned that our fourth team member, Kerem Ali Boyla from Turkey, will not be able to join due to a strike at the Israeli embassy.
The birders taking part are of many different nationalities and represent a huge variety of businesses, conservation organizations and bird clubs. On 1 April 2014, all will line up together in Eilat with a common purpose – to celebrate the miracle of migration in this spectacular part of the Great Rift Valley and to help protect its future throughout the Africa Eurasia Flyway.
The race teams will initially meet in Eilat on March 28th and then spend three days familiarizing themselves with the course and birds, in preparation for race day. [Note: for North Americans, a “bird race” is what we call a “big day”]
The Champions of the Flyway bird race is being staged by The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (BirdLife’s national partner in Israel) and is a BirdLife International Migratory Birds & Flyways Programme initiative.
Our team will be posting updates on the eBird Facebook page, so be sure to check it out and follow our travels. Please visit our Team Page on the Champions of the Flyway to find out more.