A special feature of the 2020 Festival is the 50 for 50 Youth Birding Competition. The recruitment of 50 teams for our annual youth competition is a special effort in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.

Join us in this celebration by registering as a youth participant, or support young birders by sponsoring a team. Youth need no prior birding experience to participate in this competition. They can learn everything they need to be successful in the competition by attending our 50 for 50 Youth Birding Competition Preparation Course on April 11 from 9:00—11:00 am at CNC.

Carpenter Nature Center is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day by recruiting 50 youth teams to participate in the Hastings Area Birding Festival. If you’re interested in registering a team, please contact Jennifer Vieth at (651) 437–4359 or jennifer@carpenternaturecenter.org.

Hastings Area Birding Day
Youth Birding Competition Rules

1. Teams must register in one of three divisions.

• Participants in the 16 year old and up division are allowed to have an adult chaperone/driver but must identify birds on their own – Adults must not help locating or identifying birds.
• Participants in the 11-15 year old division must bird with adult supervision – Adults should not help locating or identifying birds.
• Participants in the 10 year old & under age division must bird with adult supervision – Adults may provide limited help locating or identifying birds.

2. If a team comes to a consensus on the identification of a bird, and the adult knows it is wrong, they can strike the species from the list. Teams cannot count that individual bird again, though if they encounter the species again and correctly identify it, it can go on the list. This helps avoid the identification becoming a “guessing game” until they hit upon the correct identification.

3. Teams must have at least 2 participants and not more than 5.

4. Teams must compete within the age division of their oldest participant.

5. Team members must stay within voice contact of each other at all times. (Except bathroom breaks)

6. All birds counted must be identified by at least 2 team members.

7. Count only full species (as listed on official Minnesota State Checklist).

8. Birds must be conclusively identified by sight or sound. A bird only identified to group (i.e. scaup, either greater or lesser) may be counted as a species, if no other bird from that group appears on the list. Use common sense: if in doubt about the bird’s identity, don’t count it.

9. Birds counted must be alive, wild, unrestrained and within Hastings Birding Area (http://www.hastingsmn.gov/visitors/things-to-do/birding) plus Afton State Park & Prescott, Wisconsin.

10. Participants must follow the American Birding Association (ABA) code of Birding Ethics

A. Obey all access rules to public lands, and acquire permission to access private land.

B. Follow all existing local, state and federal laws. Please use common sense to stay safe during the competition.

11. Electronic or recorded birdcalls may be used (within ABA code of birding ethics) – i.e. not used with rare or endangered species, or in areas where their use is prohibited (some National Wildlife Refuges).

12. Flushing birds from their nest or cavity is not allowed.

13. Teams can travel as much of the Hastings Birding Area as they want.

14. Birds can only be counted during the day of the event starting at 6:00 am and ending at 3:30 pm on April 18, 2020.

15. During the Count, teams must make every reasonable effort to avoid receiving bird-finding help from non-participants. Phone and radio contacts and pre-arranged field encounters are not permitted. Participants may not travel with or walk any substantial distance with non-participants, except with guided field trips for lower (1.b. & 1.c.) division participants. When other birders are encountered accidentally, participants may not solicit bird-finding information and should avoid receiving any information from them, to the extent that common courtesy allows. If despite all precautions information is received during an accidental encounter, the team may use it. Any information received prior to the Count may be used during the Count.

16. Upper division (1.a.) teams that start before 8:00 am must be fully pre-registered.

17. The team must submit the checklist to the judges no later than 3:30 PM Saturday, April 18, 2020.

18. Totals are considered final once lists are submitted.

19. The decision of the judges in all rulings is final.