Just in time for peak spring bird migration, Wisconsin Fat Bird Week is back! Each day from May 8-15, people will vote for their favorite of two particularly rotund native Wisconsin birds in a March Madness-style bracket. Contest organizers have now announced this year's eight competing "floofs".
Shelly Torkelson from the Natural Resources Foundation says, "Each contestant is a bird that is native to Wisconsin, with a fun name that accentuates their round appearance." The first matchup on May 8 is "Massive Meadowlark" vs "Chungus Cardinal".
Whether this year's contestants are chunky from gorging on insects and seeds, simply fluffed up during wintertime to stay warm, or just the victims of a particularly "flattering" angle, the Fat Bird Week contest organizers hope to spread awareness about Wisconsin's native birds and what everyday people can do to help them. The contest is a partnership between the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and SOS Save Our Songbirds.
"Conservation can seem 'doom and gloom' sometimes, but this contest is the opposite," says Lisa Gaumnitz from SOS Save Our Songbirds. "Deciding to help Wisconsin's birds can come from a place of joy and a desire to have fun. By the end of Fat Bird Week, thousands more people will know you can help fatten up birds by planting native plants in your yard."
Ninety-six percent of North America's land-based birds feed insects to their young. Native plants — those naturally occurring in Wisconsin before European settlement — provide far more insects than nonnative trees, shrubs and flowers common in our yards. Adding a few native plants to your yard (or for apartment-dwellers, to the planters on your balcony) can help expand the menu for native birds.
Fat, healthy birds are not just fun to look at. They also benefit people and our environment in a variety of ways. Birds disperse seeds, pollinate plants, and help manage pests in farmlands and forests. Birds also have significant mental health benefits for humans and support Wisconsin's $2.6 billion wildlife watching economy.
Contest organizers say that people can help our state's native birds by:
- planting native species of plants
- preventing birds from striking windows
- buying bird-friendly coffee
- participating in the annual Great Wisconsin Birdathon
Fat Bird Week takes a page from, and has the blessing of, organizers of Fat Bear Week, which features bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska competing in an online tournament as the bears bulk up for winter hibernation. While the Alaskan bears gorge on salmon before a long winter's nap, Wisconsin's migratory birds eat fat-rich foods to fuel their dangerous, physically taxing flights.
Which bird will hoist themselves to the top? People will start deciding on May 8. May the floofiest floof win!
For more information about the contestants and to vote from May 8-15, visit WisConservation.org. For more information about how to help native birds in Wisconsin, visit SOSSaveOurSongbirds.org.