Well, if you were lucky enough to get a cool new iPhone or a cool new Android device like the Kindle Fire or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, one of your first purchase apps is almost sure to be Angry Birds for iOS or for Android. Astoundingly, it’s been downloaded than 500 million times so far.
The good folks at Rovio are doing very well for themselves, and to their great credit they’re giving back. And fittingly, the charity they’re working with is BirdLife International, an organization which is leading the fight to prevent the extinction of bird species which are being threatened by working with non-government organizations to exchange skills, achievements, and information.
The natural rate of bird extinction throughout history has been one bird per century. In the last thirty years alone, 21 bird species have become extinct. At present, 189 are classified as Critically Endangered. Without immediate action, many will not be here in ten years’ time.
Rovio has set up a Web site at http://birdlife.angrybirds.com/ with a free holiday-themed version of Angry Birds that you can play in your Web browser and even download to your computer to play offline if you have Google Chrome (there’s an “Apps” feature in Google Chrome . It’s just as fun as the version you know and love on your phone.
Aside from playing and downloading the app for free, you can read up on species of endangered birds and make a donation to BirdLife International. Kudos to Rovio for using their popular platform to shed light on an important issue that not too many people know about.