The Great Backyard Bird Count!
A Northern Flicker attracted to my suet feeder
People everywhere started watching birds while home during Covid, and winter is a great time to identify birds that come to a backyard feeder. Now bird watchers can become citizen scientists. The Great Backyard Bird Count marks its 25th year with birders around the world taking time to count the birds that show up in their backyard this Presidents’ Day weekend. The count starts Friday, February 18, and ends Monday, February 20. You don’t have to be an expert birder to participate. If you can tell a chickadee from a blue jay at your bird feeder, you can help contribute to bird science by counting your backyard birds.
Here’s why: Each individual checklist you submit over the course of the weekend helps researchers at the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada learn more about how birds are doing, so they can help protect birds and their habitats. In a recent count, more than 300,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.
To participate, go to https://www.birdcount.org to get started. Participation includes these steps:
Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.
Step 2: Make time to watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 18-21, 2022.
Step 3: Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:
If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID app.
If you have participated in the count before, try eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.
National Audubon is hosting a webinar on the 16th with tips for participating in the count. Find details here.
Last year’s bird count revealed fascinating insights into birds around the country and the world. For instance, a huge flock of 200,000 Red-winged Blackbirds was reported by a birder in Missouri, and 12,000 Herring Gulls were reported in Ohio during the 2021 count. To learn how citizen science has forged new frontiers in understanding birds, visit the Cornell Lab’s website here.
Indigo Bunting at my backyard feeder
