Great Backyard Bird Count

Every year bird-loving Americans and Canadians participate in one of the largest birding events without leaving the comfort of their backyard. Called the Great Backyard Bird Count, it's when volunteer bird watchers tally millions of birds in the annual count coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada. This year's Great Backyard Bird Count starts on Friday, February 17 and ends on Monday, February 20.

Participants count birds at any location they wish for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. After each 15-minute count, they enter their tallies at the Great Backyard Bird Count website. Anyone can participate in the free event, and no registration is required. What's cool is the Bird Count site lets you search for common birds based on your zip code, and then provides links to many of those birds. That way if you spot one, you'll know which bird you've seen. For example, recently we watched some kind of raptor feasting on a bright red cardinal. (Ah, Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" right in my own backyard!) Anyway, my husband and I assumed that this was a juvenile red-tailed hawk doing the feasting. However, after consulting the Bird Count site, I discovered that, in fact, we had been watching a Merlin in action.

Last year, participants submitted more than 92,000 checklists with more than 11 million bird observations. These data capture a picture of how bird populations are changing across the continent year after year—a feat that would be impossible without the help of tens of thousands of participants.

"This count is so much fun because anyone can take part—we all learn and watch birds together—whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher," says Gary Langham, a chief scientist at Audubon. Adds John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University, "This is a very detailed snapshot of continental bird distribution."

You can find everything you need to know about the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is partially sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited, by visiting the Bird Count website. Now to find a good pair of binoculars for the task!