Bird lovers flock to Sagamore Hill event

For just a few seconds, second-grader Charlotte Soljanich carefully held a russet-and-gray song sparrow that had bold streaks down its white chest. Then it bolted from her hands, scattering a few feathers.

"That was actually a lot of fun," said Charlotte, 7, a fan of birds since age 3. "It was funny how it just zipped out of my hands."

The young bird lover and her mother, Meredith Russo of Huntington, spent Saturday at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary & Audubon Center and the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Oyster Bay. They celebrated the president's love of birds by participating in the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a four-day event led by the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Bird Studies Canada.

"When she learned to walk, she always used to stick her arms out," like wings, said Russo, 35, adding her daughter asks for donations to the sanctuary instead of birthday gifts. "I always used to say she was a bird in her former life."

Beginning bird-watchers to experts across the country and Canada started Friday recording the type and number of birds they see in their backyards. Scientists will use the counts reported by participants through an online website to help create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent.

Melville resident Harvey Farber, who gave the bird to Charlotte, led a demonstration of bird banding. That's a technique used to study wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered metal tag to their legs, so the bird's life can be studied if it is refound. The banding can help measure migration, longevity, mortality, territoriality, feeding behavior, and other aspects.

"I like bird-watching, but I feel like I am doing banding for conservation," said Farber, 71, a volunteer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who captured and logged the information about the bird Soljanich held. "It's a lot of fun. You never know what kind of bird you will see."