{
    "video": {
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        "description": "<p>November 3, 2010\u2014Millions of birds winter on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Now National Audubon Society volunteers are counting the animals to help scientists determine the oil spill's effects on resident populations as well as on the migratory populations.</p>", 
        "is_us_only": "false", 
        "title": "Citizen \"Scientists\" Track Birds in BP-Spill Zone", 
        "url": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/animals-news/nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin/", 
        "country_code_deny_list": [], 
        "allowUserEmbed": "True", 
        "related": {
            "link": [
                {
                    "url": "http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/gulf-oil-spill-news/", 
                    "name": "2010 Gulf Oil Spill News and Pictures"
                }, 
                {
                    "url": "http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/", 
                    "name": "More About Backyard Birding"
                }
            ]
        }, 
        "credit": " 2010 National Geographic; partially funded by NSF; field producing and videography by Fritz Faerber", 
        "smil": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/data/xml/nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin.smil", 
        "country_code_allow_list": [], 
        "HTML5src": "/video/player/media-mp4/nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin/mp4/variant-playlist.m3u8", 
        "still": "http://video.nationalgeographic.com/exposure/transcode/0/615/346/?url=http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/media/nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin/nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin_480x360.jpg", 
        "transcript": "<p class=\"MsoNormal\">THE SIGHT OF OIL GUSHING INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO  MAY HAVE LEFT SOME PEOPLE FEELING HELPLESS TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT,  BUT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SAW THE SPILL AS A CALL TO ACTION. VOLUNTEERS  CAME FORWARD TO HELP WITH BEACH CLEANUP AND WILDLIFE RESCUES AND MANY  ARE STILL PITCHING IN.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">A VAST AMOUNT OF DATA IS VITAL TO ASSESS THE SPILL\u2019S EFFECTS<strong> </strong>ON BIRDS AND OTHER MARINE AND COASTAL LIFE. THAT\u2019S WHERE THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY IS HELPING OUT.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">MILLIONS  OF BIRDS FLY DOWN THE MISSIPPI RIVER FLYWAY TO SPEND THE WINTER ON THE  GULF COAST AND SCIENTISTS NEED TO TRACK ANY CHANGES IN NUMBERS AND  HEALTH OF THE MIGRANTS AS WELL AS THOSE LIVING YEAR ROUND ON THE COAST.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">SOUNDBITE: DAVID YARNOLD, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY PRESIDENT:</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cIt\u2019s  an unprecedented effort. And this year there are going to be thousands  of volunteers monitoring birds, counting, looking at their health as  they come through.\u201d</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong> </strong></p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">BIRDERS  VOLUNTEERING IN AUDUBON\u2019S CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAM JOINED THE EXPERTS  EARLY IN THE SPILL TO CONDUCT A \u201cCOASTAL BIRD SURVEY\u201d. AN ADDITIONAL  PROGRAM WAS RECENTLY STARTED AND PARTICIPANTS FROM BOTH ARE STILL OUT  IDENTIFYING AND COUNTING BIRDS.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">THIS GROUP IN  MISSISSIPPI COVERED A BIT MORE THAN A MILE OF UNDEVELOPED COASTLINE,  SPOTTING HUNDREDS OF BIRDS. SOME PARTICIPANTS ARE NEW TO BIRDING.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">SOUNDBITE: Renee Hill, Volunteer since June</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cAs  a science teacher I know the importance of collecting data. And I was  really interested in the fact that they would be collecting data over a  long period of time.\u201d</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">HILL JOINED THE GROUP IN JUNE AND WORKS WITH THE OTHER BIRDERS TO COUNT AND IDENTIFY THE BIRDS AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">SOUNDBITE: Charley Delmas, National Audubon Society Bird Monitor</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cThis  time of year, we\u2019re getting a lot of migrants. We\u2019re getting a good  fall migration. So we actually are seeing the number of birds we  normally see at this time of year.\u201d</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">DELMAS AND THE OTHER LONGTIME BIRDERS HELP THE NEW VOLUNTEERS IDENTIFY SPECIES.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">THIS BEACH APPARENTLY SAW LITTLE OIL AND SO FAR THE BIRDS HERE SEEM HEALTHY. BUT,<strong> </strong>LONGTERM  MONITORING BY THIS GROUP AND OTHERS THROUGHOUT THE REGION CAN GIVE  DEEPER INSIGHT INTO POPULATION HEALTH. ASK DELMAS IF HE IS A SCIENTIST  AND HE WON\u2019T MAKE ANY CLAIM TO THE TITLE.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">SOUNDBITE: Delmas</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cNo,  I\u2019m actually a birder, I\u2019ve been birding not a long time. I started in  \u201985 but some people start when they\u2019re 4 years old and been birding all  their lives.\u201d</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">HAVING BIRDERS ALONG AT ALL LEVELS OF EXPERIENCE MEANS THERE ARE EYES LOOKING IN ALL DIRECTIONS.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">SOUNDBITE: Delmas.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cWhen  I start a field trip I say it\u2019s the eyes. If you\u2019ve got several  birders, good birders, they can\u2019t see everything. So if you get a good  mob and they\u2019re seeing a lot of different things and brings it to other  people\u2019s attention, I think it brings some accuracy.\u201d</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">AND  ON THIS EARLY FALL DAY, THE GROUP IS REWARDED WITH THEIR FIRST SIGHTING  OF MIGRATING PELICANS \u2013 SCORES OF THEM. THIS DAY\u2019S COUNT, ALONG WITH  THOSE FROM GROUPS ALL ACROSS THE GULF REGION, WILL GO INTO A DATABASE AT  EBIRD.ORG. IT\u2019S A JOINT PROJECT OF THE CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY AND  AUDUBON.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">THE NEW DATA WILL HOPEFULLY HELP SCIENTISTS DETERMINE THE OIL\u2019S LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON THE BIRDS.</p><p class=\"MsoNormal\">In 1905, the Audubon Society was named in honor of John James Audubon.</p>", 
        "id": "nsf-oil-citizen-scientist-vin"
    }
}