Bird Identification Training Course

  • Acopian Center for the Environment

The course is teaching how to identify different bird species and how to observe them in nature. The course aimed at all levels starting from a beginner and consists of PowerPoint presentations teaching basics of identification of various bird groups and families, plumage variations by age and seasons. It also includes several field trips, with provided optical equipment. At the end of the course, the best students get an Armenian book “A Field Guide to Birds of Armenia”.

Course for Beginners

This course consists on 30 lessons where the students learn identification of more than 100 bird species in breeding plumages. The duration of each lesson is 1 hour from Sep to May meet once per week. During the course we have 3 field trips to lake Sevan, Lori district and Aragats mountain where we can observe bird species, studied during the lectures

Description of the course

Each lesson consists on description of several species by painting and training part, when students try to identify known birds by photos, which are following each other after 15 sec. During the course students learn Identification of different Ducks, Raptors, Woodpeckers, Passerines etc.

After passing the test students receive appropriate certificates.

Advanced Course

The advanced course consists on 30 lessons where students learn how to identify more bird species as well as the known birds in different plumages. Totally they will know identification of more than 200 species. The duration of each lesson is 1 hour from Sep 18 to May30 meet once per week. During the course we have 3 field trips to Armash fish-farming ponds, Noravank gorge and Dilijan forest where we can observe such bird species, as Herons, Falcons, Finches, etc.

History

2004

Bird Identification Training Course was initiated in 2004 with 1 group of students that consists from 15 people. The experiment was very successful and we decided to continue it in autumn of 2005. We have pasted announcements in different high schools and universities of Yerevan.

2005

This year over 90 people have joined the Beginning Course as first year students. They were divided into 4 different groups, where class is going in three languages: Armenian, English and Russian.

Totally we had 3 field excursions to the Sevan, Aragats mountain, and Lori regions.
We had three field excursions to Sevan Lake where we observed some water birds.


2006-2009 - Over 160 students!

All courses are carried out in three languages (Armenian, English, Russian) and conducted for local as well as foreign students. The courses are held in a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere irrespectively of the students’ age, which varies from 12 to 68 y.o.

BITC alumnae of 2007-2008