Conservation & Initiatives

Every year across Australia hundreds of passionate and some fanatical birdwatchers race around the Australian bush trying to win a unique sporting event called a Twitchathon. As a race it can be fiercely competitive, not just in terms of the birds seen, but also in terms of the funds that are raised for conservation.

What is a Twitchathon?
Put simply, a twitchathon is like a walkathon, but instead of recording kilometres participant's record bird species. It involves teams of birdwatchers racing around their respective State trying to identify through sight or sound as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. The race is run annually as a fundraising event.

Why participate in a Twitchathon?
The rewards of doing a twitchathon are many. Foremost you go birdwatching in Spring. Importantly, each year participants raise valuable sponsorship for environmental conservation and education. Funds in Victoria have been donated to the BirdLife Victoria Research Grants, awards of excellence for tertiary students studying ornithology.

Registration
In order to participate in a Twitchathon in Victoria, you will need to
form a team, read and understand the rules, fill in a Registration Form,
organise some sponsors and plan a route. (Please note that payment
guidelines are included in the Twitchathon Rules document below.) You
can race in the more serious 24-hour event or stroll around more
leisurely in the 8-hour one. All documents are available in the
downloads section below. These are the documents for 2012. They will
updated later for the 2013 Twitchathon.

The next Victorian Twitchathon is on the weekend of 16 - 17 November 2013.

Contact
Paul Dodd, Twitchathon Coordinator
M 0419 516 669
E [email protected]

The BirdLife Victoria State committee is calling for postgraduate students enrolled for Masters or PhD degrees at Victorian Universities and Colleges to apply for one year Research Grants of up to $1500.

These grants will be awarded to support field based ornithological research studying the behaviour, conservation biology and ecology of birds and the management of their habitats. It is expected that fieldwork will be carried out in Victoria.

Each grant may be renewed for a further year provided that a satisfactory progress report is received, a second application is made and our financial position continues to support this expenditure.

Applications must be approved by the student’s supervisor and submitted by them through their Institute’s Office for Research and/or Graduate Studies. A letter from that office must accompany one hard-copy of each application stating that the Institution is willing to accept the grant and that it will be exempt from all administrative and other charges.  Grants are made on the strict understanding that funds will be exempt from University and College administration charges.

Completed applications should be submitted electronically as a Word document to [email protected] or as one single-sided hard copy together with the letter of authorisation and approval from the appropriate University or College to the address below. Applications must be received by 14 November 2012.

Please note that applications will not be considered unless all necessary permits are listed and have been obtained from the appropriate government authorities and ethics committees. If the permits have only been applied for when the application is submitted, the date on which they were applied for must be stated and, when received, the permit must be photocopied and sent to the address below by 14 November 2012.

Posted applications should be marked, “BirdLife Victoria Student Research Grant Application” and sent to:

Dr Bruce McGregor or Paul Dodd
Victoria Research Grants Subcommittee
c/o BirdLife Australia
Suite 2-05, 60 Leicester Street
Carlton VIC 3053

The BirdLife Victoria State committee Community Research and Environment Small Grants Initiative has the following aims:

• To support avian research conducted by nonprofessional organisations or individuals that will have a demonstrable benefit to the conservation and preservation of wild birds in Victoria.
• To support dissemination of information that will benefit the conservation of birds in Victoria by any legitimate means, including public lectures, seminars, field trips, courses and publications.
• To support practical projects aimed at conserving the avifauna of Victoria.

Requests for funding of between $200 - $2,000 will be considered.

Applications can be from not-for-profit organisations, branches of organisations or individuals. Individuals are expected to be members of BirdLife Australia. Suitable organisations include established natural history or environmental organisations. Multiple applications from one group are not encouraged.

Contact BirdLife Victoria State committee for more information and to find out when the next round is.