Backyard Chirper

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Audubon is releasing birds across the Internet for you to spot

If you’re in a lazy mood but would still like to go birding, you’re in luck for the next few weeks. In honor of the upcoming film “The Big Year” starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson, the Audubon Society is holding this absolutely delightful competition called “Birding The Net.”

The gist of the competition is exactly how it sounds. Instead of grabbing the binoculars and looking through the trees for birds, you grab your computer and surf the web. From Oct. 10 to Nov. 7, you’ll be able to spot 34 birds across hundreds of websites. For example, if you head over to Audubon’s site, you’ll see a birdhouse with a bird flittering around. When you click on the bird, you’ll collect it.

The great thing about this is it connects with your Facebook page, so you can see how many you have and how many you have to find. If you’re into treasure hunting and birding, this’ll be your dream competition. I’m already finding myself enraptured by this competition and desperate to find as many birds as possible.

You could either play for fun or for prizes. The first place prize includes a trip to the Galapagos and the other prizes include a nice Canon DSLR, binoculars, gift cards and the mobile app.

You’ll likely see the virtual birdhouses on sites like Slate, Discovery and other local blogs.

Timothy Martinez Jr. is a writer and freelance journalist. His work has been published in The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Remapping Debate in New York City and other publications. He’s been a bird lover since he was young and currently lives in New Orleans, L.A.