Grab a comfy chair and get ready to count feathered critters that visit your backyard from February 14-17th!
Starting Friday, everyone is encouraged to top off their bird feeders with delicious seeds and watch and count the birds that visit for at least 15 minutes. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the National Audubon Society wants everyone with a backyard to count birds—for science; Make a list of the species you see and keep a guide nearby to look up any birds you may be unfamiliar with. Also, count how many of each bird species you see.
“But Jeff, how do I know if I’m counting the same bird twice?”
If you are seeing numerous birds of the same type during your count, it’s advised to report the number as the most birds you saw at any one time, that way it reduces the chance to counting the same bird twice.
After you are finished counting and have positively identified all the birds, you will need to submit your checklist to gbbc.birdcount.org. You can do this after, or you report the birds as you see them by using the free GBBC Birdlog app for iPhone. If you are an eBird user, you can just submit your observation there—as they are all included in the count. Just make sure to choose “stationary” when creating the report.
The GBBC is used to help track bird movements and impacts on species from environmental changes. With data from bird counts spanning years, it is useful for scientists to observe bird populations increasing or decreasing in size.
For more information about the Great Backyard Bird Count, visit the official website.
