Losing is for the birds. At least that’s what members of the Tiger-Herons must think. The University team won first place in the central coast division of the Great Texas Birding Classic, one of two official birding competitions in the U.S. Richard Gibbons, ornithology graduate student; Devin Bosler, conservation biology senior; Justin Bosler, biology senior, and Phred Benham, University alumnus, participated in the 24-hour event where they identified individual species by their physical appearances and their calls. Justin Bosler, Devin Bosler’s twin brother, said the team identified 218 species of birds in 22 hours. The second place team identified 216 species. “At the end of the day on our boat trip, we picked up two species that pretty much gave us the win,” said Justin Bosler, who has been birding for 12 years. The judges gave the team a choice of two conservation projects -the chance to build a boardwalk through a marsh in Texas or $10,000 to buy a stopover migratory bird habitat on Mustang Island, Texas. Gibbons said he and his teammates chose the habitat because it is a location highly sought after by birders. “It’s the most conservation for our dollars,” he said. Carol Jones, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory education manager, said the competition operates on an honor system. She said the teammates must travel together and complete a checklist of the birds they identify, and then present their list to judges after 24 hours. She said the central coast division’s boundaries encompass about 41 counties. Gibbons said birders have several steps to prepare for competition. He said birders study nocturnal flight calls, memorize maps of the area and learn the field guides. “It takes years and years and years of preparation to be competitive,” he said. Melanie Driscoll, Important Bird Areas Program coordinator at the Louisiana Bird Resource Center, said there are two official birding competitions in the U.S. the Great Texas Birding Classic and the World Series of Birding in New Jersey. She said informal competitions among birders are common. Driscoll said birding is fairly popular in Louisiana, but it is more publicized in states such as Texas and California. Justin Bosler said he enjoyed participating in the competition. “It was great,” he said. “Most of the time when you do these [all-day] competitions you have an afternoon lull when you’re tired, but it wasn’t like that. I was pumped up.”
—–Contact Angelle Barbazon at [email protected]