Be a citizen scientist and help the birds. This weekend is the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, a four day event held February 12 through 15, 2010. The GBBC is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.
Participation is easy and anyone in the USA and Canada can contribute. You don’t even have to leave your yard; watching from the window is acceptable. Count birds for at least 15 minutes on any or all of the four days and submit your counts online.
Even if you can only identify a few species that information is important. Not sure what bird you are looking at? If you’re in the midwest, check my gallery of photos of local birds. Other good resources for identification are WhatBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds guide.
All data is valuable because it gives scientists a snapshot of where birds are and the size of the populations. There will be real-time maps and charts available online showing what others are reporting during the count.
I’ll be counting birds in my yard and at Cantigny Gardens during their bird walk on Saturday. Happy Counting.
