It's time for the 2014 Great Wisconsin Birdathon!
As you’re probably already aware, the 2014 Great Wisconsin Birdathon is happening in May. Participants spend any portion of a 24-hour period birding and solicit pledges for the total number of species seen. The birdathon is an excellent way to directly support bird conservation work in Wisconsin. You can donate to an existing team, bird on your own, start your own team, or join a birding field trip. New this year, schools and youth groups can join the Oriole Count and possibly win a prize for their school.
Funds raised go to the Bird Protection Fund to support statewide conservation priorities including: the second Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, Kirtland’s Warbler monitoring and management, the Wisconsin Stopover Initiative, the Whooping Crane reintroduction program, and more!
Here at Wisconsin eBird, we’d like to suggest who to donate to… US! If you enjoy using Wisconsin eBird and you feel strongly that supporting bird conservation work is important, why not combine the two by pledging to one of the Wisconsin eBird volunteers below!
Core eBird Team
These long-time Wisconsin eBird members have spent weeks of their life tediously editing checklist filters. They also coordinate the Wisconsin eBird Review Team and review flagged records for large regions.
Nick Anich (Wisconsin eBird Team Leader, also reviews records for Ashland, Bayfield, Douglas, Forest, Iron, Oneida, Price, Sawyer, Vilas)
Tom Prestby (also reviews records for Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Sheboygan, Winnebago)
Aaron Stutz (also reviews records for Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marquette, Sheboygan, Winnebago)
Hotspot Editor
Cynthia spends a ton of time carefully curating the list of eBird Hotspots in Wisconsin. If it weren’t for her, there would be 20 duplicate locations called “Horicon Marsh.” She also edits the popular Hotspot of the Month series and helps update the website.
Regional Reviewers
These folks handle the flagged records that come into Wisconsin eBird for their local region (which includes a lot more records than you’d think, because high counts don’t show up on the gadget). Show them some support!
Dan Belter
Reviews for Marathon
Eric Howe
Reviews for Kenosha, Racine, Walworth
Scott Pulchalski
Reviews for Buffalo, La Crosse, Pepin, Pierce, Trempealeau, Vernon
Paul Schilke
Reviews for Adams, Jackson, Juneau, Monroe, Wood
Joel Trick
Reviews for Calumet, Kewaunee, Manitowoc
Jenny Wenzel
Reviews for Kenosha and Racine
Other Assistants
Ryan defies classification so we gave him his own category. He lacks the day-to-day responsibilities of the regional reviewers but is frequently consulted on various issues and occasionally contributes articles on current phenomena, ID issues, and photo quizzes to the website.
Ryan Brady (Consultant, Webmaster at Large)
eBird Alumni
Those who once upon a time graced Wisconsin eBird with their assistance. We still look to them for inspiration…
Owen Boyle (Webmaster on hiatus)
David La Puma (Mostly Retired Web Consultant)
Andy Paulios (Formerly ran the whole show. Current Position: Mascot)
Although really, it’s all for a good cause, if you’ve got a grudge with your local reviewer (rejected records perhaps?) you can likely find someone you know participating in the birdathon at this link.
