Franken-Shorebird Drawing Competition

The team from Shorebirds 2020, Birdlife Australia’s national migratory shorebird conservation project, has been raising public awareness by running workshops throughout Australia over the past six years. By producing and distributing an educational Shorebirds Identification Booklet which covers about 50 species of shorebirds, as well as a range of other materials, Shorebirds 2020 aims to inspire people to discover the shorebirds in their local wetlands and coastlines and to monitor shorebird numbers at sites across Australia.
A large component of the program focuses on education in schools. One such program is the ‘Franken Shorebird Drawing Competition’, which invites students to use their shorebird identification guides to create a crazy-looking bird, featuring a mixture of characters from various different shorebirds. These made-up birds show that shorebirds are not simply grey and boring — as many people think — but are actually quite beautiful and have adapted to their environments perfectly. The activity develops students’ identification and artistic skills along the way, as well as increasing their awareness of the conservation issues that these birds face.
The entries have flooded in. The young winners will be announced as part of World Migratory Bird Day celebrations at the BirdLife Discovery Centre in Sydney on 11 May. The winner of the major prize will be able to pursue his or her interest in migratory shorebirds with a brand new pair of binoculars. No one will go home empty handed, with all entrants receiving a Shorebirds 2020 badge featuring a Ruddy Turnstone. To see a selection of the wonderful entries, head to the BirdLife Australia Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BirdLifeAustralia.