Inspire’s citizen science project enters new phase

The “Spot a Sparrow", project by BirdLife Malta and Inspire, will enter a new phase this week, where the surveying teams from Inspire are expected to start their fieldwork.  

The project had asked the local community to record the trees used by sparrows as their roosts. More than 100 new sites have been reported during the first month of the project.

Over the winter months, several teams of Inspire's clients were trained in ecological field methods. These methods will now be used to verify the reports through surveys of the new found roost sites. The first round of surveys will bring teams to roost sites in Rabat, Paola, Marsaskala, and more.

Nick Piludu, who coordinates the project for BirdLife Malta, said: "Besides mapping out the roosting sites, our goal with this project is to encourage participation from the local community.”

“Anyone can join in this exciting citizen science project by reporting when they see large numbers of sparrows going into trees just as it is getting dark. Roosts are very easy to identify, as sparrows get very loud before going to sleep. Citizen scientists can use our website www.spotasparrow.org to submit their records,” he said.

Donatella De Gaetano, who coordinates Inspire's involvement in the project, added:

“The individuals involved in this experience are being given the opportunity to participate in a local community project. They are all persons with disabilities such as Developmental Delay, Down’s Syndrome, Autism, and other intellectual/learning difficulties.”

“The site visits they are involved in enable them to develop a personal satisfaction and thus allow them to actively contribute to the environment,” said De Gaetano. 

"Spot a Sparrow" will be collecting the community's reports until December 2015, when the project will close and the results will be presented to the community and the local administration. Citizen scientists can submit their reports on the interactive website www.spotasparrow.org.