Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Join the 2013 Great Backyard Bird Count, February 15-18, 2013

[The following post is an excerpt from “2013 Great Backyard Bird Count goes global” by Earth-Sky, 2/12/2013]

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a 4-day annual event where citizen scientists of all ages and expertise levels are invited to help scientists track the health of bird populations. This year’s event will be held on February 15–18, 2013. The Great Backyard Bird Count, now in its 16thyear, draws a large number of bird watchers from across North America. For the first time ever, people from around the world are invited to participate in the event. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon and Bird Studies Canada.

Participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count is simple. First, pick a location where you will be able to observe birds during the February 15–18 event. Locations can range anywhere from your backyard to a nearby park or wilderness area. Then, visit that area during the event and count the number and types of birds you see over at least a 15 minute period. Lastly, submit your data to the Great Backyard Bird Count. While you need to count birds at one location for at least 15 minutes, you are welcome to visit multiple locations and perform counts for longer than 15 minutes.


Everyone who participates in the Great Backyard Bird Count is eligible to receive prizes such as books about birds and bird feeders. There is even a photography contest for those who wish to submit pictures of birds that they encounter during the event.

The data collected during the Great Backyard Bird Count is used by scientists to help them understand what is happening to bird populations. For example, the data can be used to determine what areas have high levels of biodiversity and to evaluate how birds are responding to diseases and changes in their habitat and climate.

A record number of bird count checklists were submitted during the 2012 Great Backyard Bird Count. During the 2012 event, over 17 million individual birds were counted and 623 bird species were identified.

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