The Laxey-based charity are asking Manx birdwatchers to look out for birds in and around the island until New Year’s Eve.

Mark Fitzpatrick, organiser of the Bird Race for Manx BirdLife said:

“This is the fourth Christmas Bird Race organised by Manx BirdLife. Over 100 species of birds were reported on the Isle of Man during each of the previous Bird Races. It will be interesting to see the results this year. We hope many Manx birdwatchers will take part – whether just reporting birds seen in the garden or from around the coast and countryside”.

There is such a rich variety of birdlife, with different species found in gardens, the countryside and around the coast.

The photo with this article is of a Long-tailed Tit, taken by John Donnelly in Andreas recently and this is just one of the species that you can look out for during the Christmas Bird Race.

The rules for the Bird Race are simple:

• You can spend as little or as much time as you wish looking for birds.
• Sightings must be on or above the Isle of Man, or on Manx territorial waters.
• Observations must be made within the 7 day period from Christmas Day to the end of the year (between 00.00 on 25/12/2014 and 24:00 on 31/12/2014).
• It isn’t a competition between individual birdwatchers, the aim is for Manx birdwatchers to work together to see the maximum number of species possible.
• You can submit sightings either by email to manxchristmasbirds@gmail.com, by using the reporting form, by Twitter (to ‘@ManxBirdLife’, hashtag #ManxBirdRace), Facebook or by text message to 07976 421992.
• For all observations, send your name, the date and place of the observation, what you saw (Name of species, how many) and any interesting aspects of what you saw.
• This race is just for fun – no prizes.

Progress will be reported on the Manx BirdLife website, http://manxbirdlife.im, on Twitter and on Facebook.