Take the "Flights of Fancy" Challenge!

Cornell's Lab of Ornithology has a contest open right now called the Flights of Fancy Challenge.

All you have to do is submit an entry that showcases flying birds. It sounds like they are pretty open to ANY type of submission. They are calling for, "photos, artwork, video, and other types of entries showcasing flying birds." They also mention dance, sculpture, videos, and poems. So, I suppose in theory you could even submit music, pantomime, a magic show, hand tied Persian rug or crockpot recipe as long as it somehow showcased flying birds.

The effort is clearly an attempt to get people to examine and think about flight."Go outside and capture the wonder of flight," said Karen Purcell, Celebrate Urban Birds project leader. "Notice the way birds take off from a branch, fly in flocks, hover, dive, frolic, and land."

The entries will be featured on the Celebrate Urban Birds website and winners will receive prizes that include bird feeders, nest boxes, sound CDs guides, posters, and a copy of the new Bird Songs Bible, featuring a built-in audio player with recordings of more than 700 species.

There is less than a month to enter. The Deadline for entries is February 1, 2011

Email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu

1. In the subject line write Flight-(Your First and Last Name)-(Your City and State)
2. In the email, you MUST include your name, mailing address, and location where photos were taken if submitting photos.
3. Tell why you submitted your entry to the contest.
4. Choose your best/favorite entry and send just that one, please!
5. Read the terms of agreement carefully. By sending in an entry you are granting Cornell a pereptual right to use your work in any way they choose. This probably won't be an issue for many people but if you are very protective of your intellectual property rights then this is not the contest for you.

Visit the Celebrate Urban Birds website for more information.