Band of Birders," a 26-minute documentary about the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Sapsuckers' quest for victory in the World Series of Birding, on May 10, 2003, will be broadcast locally by WSKG-TV (Channel 6 on Time-Warner Cable in the Ithaca area) on Thursday, May 6, 2004, at 8 p.m., and by WCNY-TV (Channel 4) on Sunday, May 9 at 4 p.m.

Often referred to as the "Big Day" in the birding community, the World Series of Birding is a 24-hour marathon with more than 70 teams from around the world competing to identify as many species as possible in New Jersey during spring migration.

"There's a great deal at stake during the Big Day," says John Fitzpatrick, the Sapsuckers co-captain and director of the ornithology lab, which produced the documentary. "For the lab, the event is a fundraiser to support our conservation work, so each species we identify has a price tag on it, usually in the neighborhood of about $500. Then there's our egos. Our team consists of five top-notch birders, all highly competitive people who really don't enjoy losing." Other team members were co-captain Ken Rosenberg and Kevin McGowan, Jeff Wells and Steve Kelling, all ornithology lab employees.

For many years, the lab's team, the Cornell/Swarovski Sapsuckers (named in part for team sponsor Swarovski Optik, which covers all expenses), placed second and brought home the Stearns Trophy for best total by a team outside New Jersey. In 2001, they tied for first place and the Urner Stone Cup, and in 2002, were the sole first place winners.

Says David Brown, lead producer of the documentary. "We just couldn't let the excitement and anticipation of Big Day 2003 pass without aiming our lenses on it."

Lab Director Fitzpatrick said he hopes the documentary will encourage more pledges to the Sapsuckers' 2004 effort to keep the World Series of Birding trophy, scheduled this year for May 15. Last year the per-species pledges and flat donations brought about $150,000 to the lab's conservation programs--the largest amount raised by any World Series teams. Because the Sapsuckers are sponsored by Swarovski Optik, which covers expenses, all pledge dollars go to conservation. Pleadges can be made by visiting the web site http://www.birds.cornell.edu/wsb or calling (607) 254-2473.