For the Thrashers

Transcription

[Narration] The largest bird watching tournament in the world is coming back this Spring and it's even bigger! For 16 years, the Great Texas Birding Classic was just a coastal competition but this year, it's gone statewide. Texas Parks and Wildlife takes us back to 1997 when a group of teenagers won their competition category the first year by looking at birds rather than picking up chicks. [Jay] I think it's a bird. [Narrator] It's 6 a.m. and four 17-year-olds are suited up and ready to compete. Their team name -- the Thrashers. [Jay] Got him, he's flying. [Narrator] The object of the game -- to identify as many bird species as possible in a 24-hour period. [Jay] We'd give ourselves 15 minutes to find five birds and after you find those five targeted birds (snaps finger) you leave. Let's go! ((Van door slams)) [Narrator] These four boys don't exactly fit the stereotype of bird watchers, especially to their peers. [Forrest] They're like Are ya'll surveyors or something? And we're like No, we're bird watchers. And they get this queer look on their face like, You're what? [Jay] White-tail hawk. [Ragan] A lot of birders try to play down the competitive atmosphere and that's what will really get youth into it and I try to play that up to my friends. [Jay] Let's go! ((tires on gravel)) [Narrator] These guys know how to compete. They studied books, bird calls and mapped out routes months in advance for the Birding Classic. And now, there's no time to stop and eat. ------ (cheez whiz on cracker) Delicious. You must have plenty of pop tarts, EZ cheese and fruit roll ups. Those three right there. [Narrator] Sleep is also secondary. Least tern. Least tern Jay wake up! [Narrator] Their hard work pays off. On the first day of the Classic, they identify 213 birds, the highest count out of the 27 teams. [Forrest] I was floored. I was hoping to get fifth, maybe sixth somewhere in there and I would have been ecstatic." [Narrator] Of four youth teams competing in the Great Birding Classic, the Thrasher's came in first. Are they coming back next year? [Cameron] Oh yeah. Oh yeah! We got a record to keep. [Narrator] For Texas Parks and Wildlife, this is Abe Moore.