“Countdown to the Great Texas Birding Classic on the Central Texas Coast”

 

(Corpus Christi, Texas – April 11, 2007) –The Great Texas Birding Classic will be held over the dates of April 15-22, 2007, with the “Big Sit” competition being held on Sunday, April 15th. The Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau will once again sponsor a team of local birders who will meet at a private landowner’s home on Packery Channel. Birds must be conclusively identified by sight or sound from within a 17 foot diameter circle. Big Sit teams will be eligible to win the $1000.00 Lone Star Award. The selected team will donate the award to an approved habitat conservation effort for site enhancement or educational project.

 

The Great Texas Birding Classic’s mission statement is to increase appreciation, understanding and conservation of birds along the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail through education, recreation, nature tourism and conservation fundraising.

 

Each year during Texas’ amazing spring migration, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory sponsor the Great Texas Birding Classic. The Classic has 3 main purposes: to help bring about birding conservation, increase public awareness of Texas bird diversity and to promote community nature tourism development.

 

This is year 11 for the event.  In 2006 a total of 48 teams competed in the Classic from 14 states and the District of Columbia. There were 367 species of birds that were sited and documented during the competition.

 

“The Great Texas Birding Classic celebrates the multitude of natural resources in the Corpus Christi Bay area, from our bays, estuaries, beaches and wildlife to our multi-year “Birdiest City” designation,” said Keith Arnold, CEO, Corpus Christi CVB.