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 2012 Twitchathon are now available.
The 2013 Birds Queensland Twitchathon will be held in October and details will be available closer to the time.
For information, the details of the 2012 Twitchathon were as follows:
- The 2012 categories can be found on the Rules and Entry Form download – see below.
- Before the twitch you need to advise your team name, team leader’s name and contact details to the Twitchathon Co-ordinator.
- After the twitch, please phone in your results to the Co-ordinator as soon as possible 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 87 KB), a Sponsorship form (pdf 67 KB) and the B.Q Twitch bird list (pdf 75 KB).
