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Acadiana Migratory Bird Day: Birds, Beans and Art
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Come on in:
Students, teachers and parents fill the halls of the USGS National Wetlands Research Center
before the awards ceremony.
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The USGS National Wetlands Research Center, headquartered in Lafayette, LA, celebrated its
sixth annual Acadiana Migratory Bird Day in May with a speaker and art contest. It hosted a
community event featuring Jack Must of Wild Birds Unlimited, who spoke on "Creating a
Bird-Friendly Back Yard for Migratory and Resident Birds." Must, a certified backyard
birdfeeding specialist and a Louisiana Master Gardener, has a backyard certified as a
National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat. Before his talk, refreshments were
served including shade-grown coffee, which the International Migratory Bird Day group is
promoting. Shade-grown coffee plantations offer tree cover and other plant layers used by
birds to feed and nest. Following the talk, NWRC scientists answered questions about birds
and bird research and gave tours of the center.
In addition, the Center hosted an awards ceremony for the winners of a poster contest with
the theme, "Catch the Migration Sensation." Savings bonds and books donated by local businesses
(Pixus Digital Printing and Wild Birds Unlimited) were given to four winners in each category of
grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Also, Ducks Unlimited (DU) gave each participant a one-year membership
in Greenwings, the DU youth program. Membership includes receiving "Puddler" magazine for those
under 12 or "Ducks Unlimited" magazine for older students. Contestants numbered 222 students
representing 16 local public and private schools in Lafayette Parish. Parents and teachers of
the winners witnessed their students give short presentations on the birds they depicted. Both
events received television and newspaper coverage.
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below, left:
USGS National Wetlands
Research Center Director Bob Stewart watches Alex Knijn, age 6, receive a prize from contractor
Susan Horton for his winning entry in the poster contest. |
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above, center:
Clint Jeske, research
wildlife biologist, displays a blue-winged teal at the awards ceremony for winners of the
poster contest. The blue-winged teal was one of the
migratory birds that contest participants could choose to draw and research.
above, right:
Guests were treated not only to a speaker
on creating a bird-friendly backyard but also to shade-grown coffee (good for bird habitat)
and a cake replicating this year's International Migratory Bird Day poster. The cake was baked
by Helena Schaefer, a geographer at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center.
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June 2001
in this issue:
cover story:
Great Blue Hole of Belize
Channel Islands Cruise
Lake Mead Mapping
New Underwater Microscope System
Hurricane Display
Reston Open House
WHFC Outreach
Monterey Open House
School-to-Work Partnership
Acadiana Migratory Bird Day
SWICA-M³
Global Assessment of Geologically-Sourced Methane
Methane Hydrates
Metadata Workshop
Sue Hunt—Recycling
Coastal Stewardship
GIS 2001: Logan
GIS 2001: Massachusetts Bay
WHFC Visitors
Northeast Earthquake Hazards Map
June Publications List
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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