Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (May 20/02) - Spring is in the air and the birds are returning -- it's prime birding season.

As far as hobbies go, birding is low-cost and easy to learn -- all it takes is a pair of binoculars and a bird book.

Four years ago, Parks Canada biologist Ian McDonald got into birding. Since then, he's spotted all kinds of birds from northern hawk owls and snowy owls to harriers and sandhill cranes.

"I bird walk to work, I can bird sit in the office when I got the window open," McDonald says. "I'm doing it all the time -- that's what I love about it. When I travel, when I go south, I'm always looking for new birds. I find especially in the spring, it's exciting to see the birds migrating back to the area."

Many birders learn to recognize different species by their song.

"That's fun because when they come up here, the males get territorial and do a lot of singing in the early summer," McDonald says. "It gets to be a real racket out there."

Aside from fresh air and enjoyment, birders also get to help with national and international wildlife monitoring efforts.

The Canadian Wildlife Service produces bird checklists for every region in the country. The checklist allows birders to report sightings for scientific research.

For identification, McDonald uses the National Geographic Society's Birds of America, but there are many other good titles available.

This summer, the Aurora Research Institute is releasing a bird book specifically for the Mackenzie Delta.

The research institute is trying to encourage more people in the region to get into birding.

"Most of the bird information in the world comes from voluntary surveys," says Mike Salomons, manager of research programs at the institute.

"We want people to take notice of birds, especially for monitoring."