Garden Faerie: Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count!
A red-bellied woodpecker is one of the birds you're likely to see in your backyard this time of year.
Photo by Simon Tan, GBBC participant
This is my third year participating in the GBBC, and I've really enjoyed my experience. You don't have to be an expert birder or a scientific researcher to participate. All ages and skill levels are welcome, and you can spend as little as 15 minutes on the project.
You can watch and count birds in your own backyard or in a park, nature area or anywhere else where there are birds. You watch the area for at least 15 minutes on one day, and record the highest numbers of each species you see together during that time. You can watch for longer than 15 minutes on any one or more of the four days of the event (Feb. 18-21).
You jot down your counts and submit them online.
The goal of the project is to identify the sizes and locations of bird populations across the continent, According to the GBBC, "Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time."
The counts we submit will help scientists answer questions such as:
~ How will this winter affect birds?
~ Are birds overwintering in new areas?
~ How do diseases (such as West Nile virus) affect birds in different regions?
~ Are different species common in cities, suburbia and the countryside?
~ Are any bird populations declining?
I enjoy participating in citizen science projects, but I also just like to know what kinds of feathered friends come to my feeders. If you participate, submit your results in the comments section. I'll post mine as well.
More Info
~ Video overview
~ Instructions for participating
~ Checklists of birds likely in your area
~ Bird ID tips
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a joint project of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, with partner Bird Studies Canada.
Monica Milla, the Garden Faerie, is a master gardener volunteer, garden speaker, garden coach and author of "Fun with Winter Seed Sowing."
Comments
Monica Milla
Tue, Feb 15, 2011 : 10:54 p.m.
Hi Ramon, I'm not getting comments forwarded to my email any more, so didn't find this until just now. My mom always had parakeets when I was growing up, so I've always felt an affinity for our feathered friends. Cornell does have some wonderful birding resources. I'd like to learn to ID birds by their calls.
Ramon
Sat, Feb 12, 2011 : 10:19 p.m.
Did you see that they created a social networking site for birders? The CLoO does a great job of getting people involved and caring about birds. I never really thought much about birds until I started getting their press releases for GBBC.