Twitches
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| Morning twitching group, mobile and eager to sight their first birds |
Why we need twitchers
Keen and experienced birders are sometimes called ‘twitchers’. A small proportion of twitchers can go to extraordinary lengths to see as many different bird species as possible, and in as many different situations, regions and countries. There are a great many variations on what an individual twitcher wants to see but it usually involves personal pleasure or challenge, and not necessarily, though sometimes, a sense of competition.
Often it can be a sociable "fun thing", such as happens with our Birds Queensland Twitchathons. Really, most of our team contestants just love to see birds in their natural habitat AND enjoy each other's company with a common goal.
Twitching has other important side benefits in that keen twitchers usually become experienced bird observers, skilled at identifying many bird species under all sorts of weather conditions. As such, they are most suitable people to assist with the conduct of bird population surveys. Their reliable observations yield the vital data required to indicate whether bird biodiversity is at risk and whether degredation of bird habitats is putting a given species under threat.
The Birds Queensland Twitchathon
Results of the 2011 Twitchathon are now available.
The Birds Queensland Twitchathon is usually held in the last weekend in October.
The Twitch runs from midnight on the Thursday until midnight on the Sunday.
- Each year's categories will be similar to last year's and the details and recording list are available on the website.
- Before the twitch you need to advise your team name, team leader's name and contact details to me.
- After the twitch will you please phone in your results ASAP and then mail your result sheets and sponsorship money or direct credit details immediately after that.
- You'll need the Rules and Entry form (pdf 17 KB), a Sponsorship form (pdf 7 KB) and either the B.Q Twitch bird list (pdf 22 KB) or for the B.C.C area list (pdf 118 KB).
