Spot a Sparrow, a project by BirdLife Malta and Inspire, enters its new phase this week, as the surveying teams from Inspire start their fieldwork. The project is engaging the local community in recording the trees used by sparrows as their roosts. More than 100 new sites have been reported by the Maltese population during the first month of the project. Over winter, several teams of Inspire's clients were trained in ecological field methods to verify these reports, and are now starting their surveys. The first round of surveys will bring the teams to roost sites in Rabat, Paola, Marsascala, and more. Nick Piludu who coordinates the project for BirdLife Malta, said: "Besides mapping out the roosting sites, our goal with this project is to encourage participation from the local community. Anyone can join in this exciting citizen science project by reporting when they see large numbers of sparrows going into trees just as it is getting dark. Roosts are very easy to identify, as sparrows get very loud before going to sleep. Citizen scientists can use our website www.spotasparrow.org to submit their records."Donatella De Gaetano, who coordinates Inspire's involvement in the project, added: "The individuals involved in this experience are being given the opportunity to participate in a local community project. They are all persons with disabilities such as Developmental Delay, Down's Syndrome, Autism, and other intellectual/learning difficulties. The site visits will enable them to develop a personal satisfaction and thus allow them to actively contribute to the environment." ​Spot a Sparrow will be collecting the community's reports until December when the project will close and the results will be presented to the community and the local administration. Citizen scientists can submit their reports on the interactive website www.spotasparrow.org.