WE ARE THE UTAH BIRDERS

Cost:

Details:

Teams of 2-4 birders will compete in a 25 hour birding competition to identify and document as many species as possible. Teams will all start at a predetermined location and start birding at 6:00pm on Friday night. Birding can continue until 11:30pm when all teams must take a 5 hour rest break before starting again at 4:30am on Saturday and continuing until 7:00pm when all teams must be at the finish line. Teams not at the finish line will be docked points for every minute they are late (points/scoring explained below). The finish line will be determined prior to the beginning of the race so all teams are aware of where they need to be. Only birds observed in the 5 counties bordering the shore of the Great Salt Lake as well as Utah County may be counted during the race. Each team MUST track all sightings via eBird checklists that need to be kept while birding as well as a master list provided by the Utah Birders.

Scoring:

Audible = 1 POINT
Visual = 2 POINTS
Photo or Audio = 4 POINTS
These points are on a per species basis. So if you hear an American Robin, you get 1 point. If you see a robin you get 2 points. If you record the audible, or take a photo you get 4 points. These are totals, so you don't get to add 1+2+4. It's 1, 2, or 4 depending on what level of identifciaton/documentation is provided.

This means that any team who has 50 species that are all visuals will receive 100 points. A team with 25 visuals, all of which were also photographed will also earn 100 points. The combination of the total number of species and the way in which they were observed/recorded determines the point total.

USE OF TAPES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED during this competition. Teams may pish or mimic, but any teams caught using recordings to observe species will be automatically disqualified.

In order for the points to be rewarded each member of the team must identify the species for 90% of species submitted. Up to 10% of species submitted may be identified by at least half the team members for them to count on the daily total. The reason for this rule is so that all teams are on equal ground for scoring. If a team of 4 has 100 species all seen by just 1 member of the team there is some question to the sightings. Everything is on the honor system so it's in your hands to be fair.

An additional 25 points per county birded will be added to the point total for up to 150 additional points. Basically each team will need to submit at least 1 checklist for each county via eBird and identify at least 25 species in the county to earn the bonus points.

Teams that do not reach the finish line by 7:00pm on Saturday will be docked 1 point per minute for the first 10 minutes, after which 5 points per minute will be deducted up to 30 minutes. After 7:30pm any team not at the finish line will be disqualified.

Tallying:

To keep track each team should submit eBird checklists for each location they visit. This will provide the state of Utah with some great data in eBird for this weekend during the year. It will also be nice to be able to track total birds, individuals, etc with this tool. Teams will also receive 2 paper checklists to track their audibles, visuals, and any documentation for each species. Each team will need to have 1 team memory card to use to document birds via digital camera. The memory card must be turned in at the finish line in order to confirm team tallies. The memory card can be passed around the team to use in different cameras if the multiple people want to take pictures.

Judges will review team checklists as well as documentation and confirm total number of points by 8:30pm when a winner is announced. The winning team will be awarded the CHUKAR CUP and must defend it at the following years This is the Place Bird Race.

There will also be prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, as well as Best Photo, and rarest bird photographed. We might come up with some other awards as well to make this a fun event!

Sponsors:

We are also looking for sponsors to provide funding to help with setting up the infrastructure for this and future years. All sponsors will receive a placement on the race shirts, as well as the race website, and in any emails, or correspondence promoting the event. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact us immediately to help get the ball rolling.