Can we get people who tweet to use their voice to help nature and inspire others to do the same?

Many groups have started experimenting with Twitter, including holding fund-raising drives, marketing and just recently, NWF held a “Twestoration” where volunteers tweeted about their environmental restoration projects.

NWF’s Wildlife Watch is hoping that the Twitter community will use their 140 characters to help monitor wildlife.

Wildlife Watch is a citizen monitoring program where the public reports animal, plants and natural phenomena sightings online to NWF.

Most of the data is collected on the Wildlife Watch website at www.nwf.org/watch. However, the program has now opened up to include the Twitter community.

Anyone on Twitter can participate and report cool wildlife sightings.

You don’t even have to know what you see! Simply tell us about your experiences with interesting wildflowers, amphibians, birds, and mammals. All wildlife tweets are important, because they can be used to inspire others through environmental education.

Just getting excited about nature can have a huge impact on a child and teach them something new. We want to hear it all!

“A ruby-throated hummingbird visited my balcony garden today! It was so beautiful with the metallic colors and fast wing beats! #nwf”

“Went for a hike yesterday at a Maryland park. Spotted a toad, doves, red salamanders, and a kingfisher. Can’t wait to go back. #nwf”

How to Wildlife Watch through Twitter

All you have to do is write your Twitter status update about a nature sighting and finish it with #nwf.

The hashtag #nwf marks your tweet as Wildlife Watch data and sends it directly to NWF’s website.  If you follow Wildlife Watch online at http://www.twitter.com/wildlife_watch then you can stay updated on the latest news and even ask questions. Check out the Wildlife Watch Twitter stream.

Also feel free to follow NWF’s staff on Twitter!

Wildlife Watch is an education program where amateur scientists report on their wildlife sightings and experiences in nature. The website can be used by anyone, anywhere in the United States and has features for both children and adults. The main goal of Wildlife Watch is to get families looking for natural wonders right in their own community.

At the beginning of each season, visit Wildlife Watch and print out the species list for your state. These are the target plants, animals and natural phenomena that we want you to be on the lookout for. Once you have the list, take it with you on hikes, weekend camping trips or simply keep it in your backpack.  When you see a bird or plant on the list, come back to the Wildlife Watch website and send us your findings. It’s that easy! 

If you see a cool animal or plant not on the Wildlife Watch list, NWF offers other opportunities to participate.

• You can write a journal entry on the Tell Your Story page
• Upload photos to our Flickr group.
• Share with us through Twitter*

*A brand new feature of the Wildlife Watch website is our Twitter feed. Twitter users can contribute to Wildlife Watch by sharing their nature stories right in their tweets. Just by putting #nwf in your tweet, your short wildlife story will be linked to our website. Follow us at www.twitter.com/wildlife_watch for the latest stories and links on wildlife and citizen science. 

So now that you know all about Wildlife Watch. Visit the website and get yourself outside this spring.  We are waiting to hear all about it!

Wildlife Watch is a perfect launching point for science projects, because the program is built around teaching basic observation and inquiry skills. Wildlife Watch simply wants to know what wildlife can be found in your community. Volunteers look for plant, animal and natural phenomena in their neighborhood and then report back on their findings. The same data that students submit to Wildlife Watch can be used to study wildlife population density, seasonal change and animal tracking.

Here are some potential Wildlife Watch inspired science projects:

1. Compare the number of trees, wildflowers, birds and/or mammals found in a cement schoolyard versus a park. Why do they think there is more wildlife in one area over the other?

2. Choose a pond where frogs have been known to call in the spring. Compare the number of frogs heard on warm days versus cold days.

3. During one of the spring meteor showers, compare the number of meteors seen in an area with light pollution against one without ambient light.

The opportunities are endless.

Take a look at the Wildlife Watch website, www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch, for more science project inspiration. The website has resources for different types of learners, including a webpage for uploading photos taken by students and a Tell My Story page. Tell My Story is perfect for students who prefer to write a short story or journal entry about their experiences in nature.

Raptors are birds of prey that hunt while in flight and use their feet to capture prey. The most famous raptor is the bald eagle, and for the continental United States, winter is the best season for viewing this majestic creature.  During the summer, bald eagles live and breed in Alaska and Canada. As the temperatures drop, bald eagles migrate south to hunt over large lakes and river for their primary prey, fish. They can be seen in every state except Hawaii, and are most commonly spotted over lakes in the Mississippi Valley, Pacific Northwest, Hudson River Valley and the Mid-Atlantic.

If you spot bald eagles or any other winter wildlife, visit the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch website to report your sightings. Wildlife Watch is a free educational program where participants can upload photos of wildlife, share stories and map the locations of their wildlife watching. Visit to learn more about citizen wildlife monitoring with NWF.

To learn more about watching for bald eagles, read Where the Eagles Are from National Wildlife magazine.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should become a part of the growing Wildlife Watch community.

National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch is an online, citizen-led nature monitoring program. Through Wildlife Watch, you can identify plants and animals in your community and share sightings on the Wildlife Watch website. Practice your skills every season with a new “Watch List” of targeted species to observe.

Share your wildlife experiences with others at the Wildlife Watch website by uploading photos of wildlife, reviewing pictures by other Wildlife Watchers’, and posting a story in the “Share Your Story” journal. How you participate in Wildlife Watch is up to you!

The Fall Watch List is online now. Print out the list for your state and begin your Wildlife Watch adventure today!