Thursday, August 7, 2008

Indoor birding when it's miserable outside

This link was forwarded to one of the list-servs that I subscribe to, and I've found it quite addictive. It is an on-line bird identification game from Swarovski Optik to help promote their new EL binoculars. If you play the game and register, you could win a new pair of bins. The location is in Austria, so US birders that have never crossed the pond may find some of the id's challenging (well, at least I did!), but there are hints and a "field guide" to help you out. Of course, there are also several birds that we have in the US, so it's not entirely discouraging.
It's very similar to an older "birdwatching" game that I remember coming out several years ago that Pete Dunne endorsed called "Bird Watcher, The Interactive Birding Game", where you spotted an icon, clicked on it, then it showed you a photo of a bird that you have to identify. I don't remember any more details beyond that it was fun, if not a bit slow going.
Also quite similar, and something that I have visited every now and again for a while, is the "Birding Break" over at the Virtual Birder website.
Once you master these games, you could always cruise on over to the Fatbirder web site and try your hand at some of the quizzes that they have linked to in their "Miscellany and Fun" section.