by Denny Olson
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to take our Conservation Education Program in a “virtually” entertaining direction, with a both light-hearted and serious video series, with our primary bird education messages front and center.
Professor Avian Guano, Bir.D. is our eccentric, slightly off-the-wall narrator — doing his own brand of “edu-tainment” for our K – 12 students (you may not realize you have learned something until it’s too late!).
They feature some gorgeous bird video footage gathered by Birds in Motion, a local company with the goal of video-documenting all of the bird species in North America!
“BIRDS ROCK!”
Professor Guano outlines the seven ways that bird are critical to our survival and add joy and wonder to our lives. They are critical for insect and rodent balance, seed dispersal and pollination, first responders in the great cleanup crew, and excellent indicators of the health of our own life support system! They also invented music as we know it, and function as mental health “ecotherapy” Evidence is convincing that they make us happier!
“BIRD TROUBLE”
But, we have not been kind to birds in the past (30% of North American birds are gone!) and their future prospects are completely dependent on our own attention to science and evidence, and the changes we make in the next few decades. Their life support system is our life support system. Professor Guano makes a strong case for science and evidence as our guide to a better future.
“BIRD HELP”
The Good Professor shows us how WE, with some minor labors of love, can make a big difference in the future of birds and the future of ourselves — at home! Restoring habitat with native plants, becoming citizen scientists, modifying our windows, keeping our kitties indoors, becoming bird-friendly consumers and perhaps even activists — WILL determine the future of birds, and therefore ourselves. And, most of these simple changes are FUN!
Watch these videos! Pass the word to friends! Make the world better for birds!
[…] Flathead Audubon Society (FAS) will premiere “Birds Rock!”, “Bird Trouble”, and “Bird Help” — three entertaining short films produced by FAS during the COVID hiatus. Click here to see them. […]
[…] “BIRDS ROCK!” (Video # 1 in the series, 15 minutes) Professor Guano outlines the seven ways that birds are critical to our survival and add joy and wonder to our lives. “BIRD TROUBLE” (Video # 2, 29 minutes) We have not been kind to birds in the past (30% of North American birds are gone since the first Earth Day!), and their future prospects are completely dependent on our own attention to science and evidence. Their life support system is our life support system. “BIRD HELP” (Video # 3, 28 minutes) The Good Professor shows us how we, with some minor labors of love, can make a big difference in the future of birds and the future of ourselves — with changes right at home! And, most of these simple changes are fun! The newest project, available in early summer 2022, will be “NATIVES RULE” , a video narrated by Prof. Guano and featuring local experts on the connections between native plants, native insects who eat those native plants, and native birds who eat those native insects. […]
[…] 30 minutes and are geared to middle school ages – but suitable for all. Both are available by clicking here. Feel free to send any feedback to […]