Readers have until July 15 to submit photographs for the Celebrate Urban Birds project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
The "Funky Nests in Funky Places" contest highlights birds that are in a flurry of nest-building or already raising chicks. Birds don't always build in the places you might expect. People have discovered bird nests in boots, grills, flower pots, traffic signals, fence posts, rakes, old tires and all manner of assorted odd places.
"If there's a funky nest in your neighborhood, we want to know about it," said project leader Karen Purcell. "You can send in a photo or video, write a story, produce some artwork or a dance - use any creative way you can think of to show or describe a bird's nest in a funky place."
Many prizes will be offered, including binoculars, regional bird-sound audio guides, waterproof field guides, bird journals, bird notepads and bird game cards. Children's picture books by Henry Cole and the book "Sparrow" by Kim Todd also will be awarded.
How to participate:
Email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu
In the subject line, write your FirstName_LastName_City_State_FUNKY2012
Include your address in the body of the email
Explain where the photo was taken and the name of the bird if you know it
