Birdathon competitors are not allowed to use fossil fuels to get around, so on a recent, overcast afternoon, small teams of five or more headed out on foot or bicycle to field edges, ponds, or patches of forest. As long as three or more team members could verify a bird by its call or by sight (or by its footprint), the teams could claim it. Two teams tied for first place after identifying 28 species: the Loonatics and the Clayton Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.
Wheelwright, Bowdoin’s Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences and Chair of the Biology Department, each spring offers a popular science class called Bird Song. Along with studying the biology of bird song, including the mechanics, anatomy, neurobiology, endocrinology, ecology, and evolution of sound production and recognition in birds, students learn to recognize the songs and calls of common Maine birds. This year, seven of the 14 Birdathon teams were made up of students from the class.