Great Backyard Bird Count

It’s that time of year again. If you are in North America are you ready to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count February 12 – 15th? Each year “citizen scientists” helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,the National Audubon Society , and Bird Studies Canada learn more about bird population and migration creating the largest map of bird populations ever recorded. You only have to observe for 15 minutes and the GBBC site provides downloadable tally sheets of birds in your region. This year after reading a great article in the New York Times on landfills and bird diversity, I am participating in it along with several recycling centers and landfills in our state. I was inspired by the landfill bird blog hosted by a Wildlife Control Biologist on a landfill in Kentucky. His pictures are stunning. Other “citizen scientist” bird counts include the UK Big Garden Birdwatch (January 30 -31), Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count (December 14 – January 5) which is the largest and oldest at 110 years old, and Cornell’s eBird which is a year round on-line bird count from citizen scientists around the world.