The Celebrate Urban Birds project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is launching a contest whose goal is to show some of the ways birds interact with each other, with humans and/or with other creatures. The deadline for submission of entries is November 15, 2011.

Entries may be in the form of a story, photo, artwork, video, poetry, sculpture or any other creative art. Participants just need to show birds interacting in fun, interesting or captivating ways.

"For example, you might see a House Sparrow trying to grab a sandwich at the park," says project leader Karen Purcell. "Maybe, a crow is teasing your dog or hummingbirds are dueling over who gets dibs on the nectar feeder. That's the sort of close encounter we'd like to see."

Prizes include binoculars, bird feeders, sound CDs and books. The first 50 entrants will receive a copy of the Cornell Lab's "Doves and Pigeons" poster by Julie Zickefoose. Selected entries also will be featured in the 2012 Celebrate Urban Birds calendar.

E-mail entries or photos of entries as in the case of sculpture or other creative art here, or post a video on YouTube and send the link. In the subject line write 'CloseEncounter_yourfirstname your last name_yourstate." Include both your mailing address and the location where you saw the bird(s). Explain why you submitted your entry and what it shows.

For contest terms and conditions go here.

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