City Trees

Can you talk about EXPLORE BIRDS? GSS: EXPLORE BIRDS is our mobile education and exhibit program. Three threads came together to launch this program. One thread was our wild- life survey. We wanted to offer an opportunity for people to safely interact with the bird species we were observing during our bird counts. The second thread was our collaboration with Street Lab (formerly the Uni Project). The organiza- tion's READ program, a pop-up reading library, hosted our collection of nature-based picture books when they offered programs in WSP. The third thread was when my children and I found a dead white-throated sparrow. When we found the bird, I knew we could not keep the body because the species is a regulated bird. Loyan suggested I contact the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) for advice. My outreach to the museum introduced me to Paul Sweet, the ornithology col- lections manager. I can't remember what happened with the white-throated sparrow, honestly, but when I met with Paul he gave me three European starlings to exhibit with our nature books and intro- duced me to Peter Capainolo who prepares many of the museum's specimens and also teaches graduate students in the science and art of taxidermy and study skin preparation. The starlings and the book collection were the catalyst for EXPLORE BIRDS. As a 501c3, Street Lab submitted a proposal to the Blake-Nuttall Fund on our behalf. We used the funding to pilot EXPLORE BIRDS in 2017. Simultaneously with the pilot, I was observing Pete and graduate students at AMNH prepare bird study skins. During one of my visits, Pete encouraged me to prepare a skin! He and Paul also encouraged me to apply for state and federal permits to build a collection for Eco Projects. Once I received permits to collect or possess birds for education/exhibit purposes, the museum provided salvaged birds for me to prepare as study skins. "We have 36 specimens which include entire study skins and wing specimens. The collection also contains preserved eyes and an American robin's nest." The original iteration of EXPLORE BIRDS was a small shelf on the Street Lab READ cart with star- lings, several books, and a magnifying glass. The program expanded as I created additional study skins and it was incorporated into Street Lab's EXPLORE NYC cart. In addition to WSP, the exhibit has traveled with Street Lab to other NYC parks and plazas. Eco Projects also offers EXPLORE BIRDS independent of Street Lab as a table-top exhibit. EXPLORE BIRDS has been presented at the Pelham Bay Park Nature Day, World Science Festival, March for Science NYC, the American Association for the Advancement of Science Citizen Science Expo, and Biodiversity Day at the 6B Garden in the East Village. The bird specimen collection has been exhibited at the East Village Arts Festival at Tompkins Square Library and we have hosted biological art open studios in NYC and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We have 36 specimens which include entire study skins and wing specimens. The collection also contains preserved eyes and an American robin's nest. We would like to add tree bark that more closely matches the wing pattern of the brown creeper in the collection as well as a trunk section bearing the sap wells of a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a species also in the collection. >> urban-forestry.com 23

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