YouTube for bird watchers?

Newsweek recently wrote about Bird Cinema, a sort of YouTube for the bird watching circuit. What a great idea!

Since launching on June 7, 700 user-submitted videos have been uploaded onto Birdcinema from all over the world and nearly 116,000 videos have been viewed. And although the number of Americans who actively watch birds is declining, according to a 2001 government survey, there are still millions who are jazzed by the sight of an owl sitting on a log--or even a hummingbird in their backyard. In fact, according to the survey, one in five Americans watches birds, although some are more devoted than others.

Another way connecting thousands, even millions of people online, all in the name of one common interest. It's another idea of networking that non profits should take notice of. Are there other YouTube-ish sites that could be created that revolve around a specific environmental issue? We've seen how successful something like this has been and how easily it connects people together. It's another tool that progressives need to grab and run with.

-Yvonne Archer