became attuned to a whole new world of birds . One of the most challenging aspects of the production was filming the birds . They don ’ t stay still for long , often forage inside dense shrubs , and can be difficult to capture when they are flying around in leafy trees . I learned to be patient , often standing in one spot for long periods of time , waiting for the birds to appear . I became familiar with the habitats at RedGate which attracted certain species of birds .
As I worked on the documentary , I learned that since 1970 , the North American bird population has declined by nearly 30 percent . That is a loss of almost three billion birds . As Jill Deppe , senior director of the National Audubon Society ’ s Migratory Bird Initiative describes in Bird Walk , the majority of these birds are migratory , flying thousands of miles to and from Mexico , Central America , the Caribbean and South America . Bird Walk shows how RedGate Park is an important breeding and nesting site for migratory birds as well as year-round resident birds , such as the Northern Cardinal and Blue Jay . The park ’ s ponds , trees , plants , and insects provide birds with the food and water they need year-round and during their migratory journeys .
While producing the film , I used the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ’ s free Merlin app . Bird Walk shows how Merlin can be used to identify a bird through a photo or by recording its calls or songs . It became an indispensable tool as I looked for birds to feature in the documentary .
Bird Walk also explains how
Photo : Cintia Cabib
Red-winged Blackbird
birders can become citizen scientists by using eBird , which is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology . With eBird , birders can record the birds they see and hear during their birding outings . This data provides valuable information to scientists and conservation researchers about vulnerable bird species , changes in species populations , migration pat-
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