International Bird Day

International Bird Day has been celebrated annually on 1 April since 1927. This day can be considered as the oldest ecological holiday.

Although the international holiday has started to be celebrated at the beginning of the 20th century, the very first Bird Day originated in the United States of America in 1894 in Oil City (Pennsylvania) as a mass scale children’s holiday and was initiated by local teacher Charles Babcock.

The teacher was supported by the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph newspaper, which started popularizing the Bird Day actively. Moreover, the newspaper established a special club museum of birds preservation for pupils. After a time the Bird Day started to be celebrated as a national holiday in all states of the country, and then spread to the countries of the New and Old World as the International Bird Day. By the 20th century was adopted by Russia as well.

The Bird Day is popular in Russia. However, it started to celebrate this holiday later than America due to the later birds migration. The idea of the Bird Day, mass installment of log houses and birdfeeders in Russia synchronized with the process of attracting birds to artificial nests or bird boxes.

German zoologist and botanist Peter Pallas noted that Russian peasants hung out circular boxes made of bark for starlings to live in. In Ukraine and Belarus people set out cart wheels for storks in spring. In 1879 Pravitelstvennyi Vestnik newspaper published an article, which suggested that people should make special holes in their houses, tile the roofs and make hillocks of chip stone for rose-colored starlings.

However, Russia has other traditions connected with birds, which were kept up in the past.

• 9 March was the Migratory Bird Day, when people meet the migrating larks and magpies. It is popularly believed that the first 40 birds arrive on this day and bring spring with them.
• 12 March used to be the day, when birds were welcomed at houses by flax and hemp seeds.
• 17 March marked the arrival of rooks, the first spring birds.
• On 22 March Russians used to make lark figures, welcoming these birds and spring.

As for Altai State University, it has its own ornithological school founded by Eduard A. Irisov. Currently the work is carried on by his students and followers. Barnaul ornithologists have already started celebrating the International Bird Day by observing and researching Altai birds.

“Spring has come early this year. Barnaul vicinities have already brightened up with migrating birds. Starlings, white wagtails, plovers, common gulls and black kites can be observed here,” says ornithologist, assistant professor of the Department of Ecology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Candidate of Biology Viktor Yu. Petrov.