How can I particpate?

• With my school: We offer educational programmes for groups of pupils (age group ca. 10-14 ) which take place in the Zoological Museum of the University of Patras. Send us a mail to zmup@upatras.gr to arrange your visit.

• With my friends or family: We arrange regular bird walks for small groups where we observe and record birds in the city area. These can be mixed groups of children and adults. We announce these meetings on our facebook page  and on twitter.

• On my own and with an online community: We have a project on the internet platform iNaturalist, where you can find us as  “Ornithopolis Patras”. Here, you can upload your observations and photos, get into contact with other nature lovers and get help with identifications from a worldwide community [see instructions here]

• On my own: We have prepared a field guide [in Greek only] and an observation sheet [currently only in Greek, English version will follow soon]. You can use these to record your observations and return the sheets to one of several observation points in the city:

  • University of Patras, Building of Biology, 3rd floor, office of Olga Tzortzakaki

  • Optician (Dioni Pavlopoulou), Korinthou 263, Patras

  • Photography store, Ag. Ioanni Pratsika 109, Patras

Why is it important to share my observation data?

One of the aims of the project is to involve citizens in the scientific process, as this trains the careful observation - and we learn faster through systematic observations. These observations then in turn are of great value to the scientific community. Thus, all of us together can help to increase the knowledge on the birds of our city that we know almost nothing of so far. In turn, this knowlegede can help us to improve the life in our city, not only for birds but also for ourselves!