Click to play live Barred Owl Cam from Cornell Lab!

Artists exploring with birder Gregory Zbitnew

Ayatana residents patrol with Safe Wings Ottawa for birds injured or killed in collisions with buildings.

Artist Tanya Chaly releases a bird banded by the Innis Point Banding Association

Residents visit the National Museum of Natures archives

Residents visit the chickens of Forest and Farm

Expert owler Bernie Ladouceur leads residents to listen to nocturnal birds

Montreal artist Marjorie Lemay films a pair of eagles
through binoculars with a super 8 camera

Residents work with the Wild Bird Care Center's x-ray collection


Artists work with the Innis Point Bird Banding Association

A Downy Woodpecker in an artists hand

One of thousands of drawers at the Museum of Nature's archives.

Laying Black Star hen at Forest and Farm

Looking for owls

Residents spot a Baltimore Oriole at Mud Lake

Parliament of Owls

Virtual Bird School for Artists
Online -May, 2020

Owls are usually solitary birds, but when they flock together for special occasions they are called a Parliament, because they are considered to be intellectual and well organized. This year's Parliament of Owls residency, which is usually a gathering of artists come together to study birds with scientists and naturalists in Ottawa Canada will be held online so we can maintain our physical solitude.

The virtual bird school will involve twice daily live video chats enriched by biologists, naturalists and artists working with birds.

Ayatana residencies focus on experiences, research and connections between visual and conceptual artists. Writers, poets, musicians and dancers also benefit from this program.  This research residency is designed to be as impressive as possible in a virtual setting and will offer opportunities to learn from experts and to develop ideas with the other artists.

Artist talk: We invite you to give an artist talk to share your work with the group.

On Line Tools: Class on how to use eBird for counting birds and Merlin for identifying them with an expert birder from the Ottawa Field Naturalist Club

Collection and curation: Virtual tour of the National Museum of Nature’s bird collection with it's ornithology archivist

A Big Year: Meet with Ottawa’s leading birder

Virtual dawn chorus field trip: Morning outdoor bird count, text chat and deep listening

Bird/Building Collision Emergency Response: A talk with Ottawa's Safe Wings patrollers

Art in the Dark: Contemporary artists working with live birds

Identifying Birds by Ear: Chirps, Tweets and Trills: a crash course in earbiriding with the Ottawa Bird Count

Nocturnal Birding: Chat with Bernie Ladouceur

Virtual Owl Prowl field trip: midnight outdoor text chat

Artist talk: Working with eBird Data

Artist talk: Cormorants and Urban Ecologies

Cost 
$300 USD
Official invites will be given to accepted applicants to help in the procuration of grants and funding.

Only applications that follow these guidelines will be considered.

Follow us for future calls for applications and posts about art and science

For more images of past Biophilia adventures see our face book albums

Parliament of Owls 2019, Chelsea Quebec

Parliament of Owls 2018, Chelsea Quebec

Parliament of Owls May 2017, Chelsea, Quebec

Biophilia Sept 2016, Chelsea, Quebec

Biophilia July 2015, Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Biophilia Sept 2014 Wakefield, Quebec