Bird watchers of all ages and knowledge levels are helping ornithologists better understand the populations dynamics and movements of birds around the world, and you can be a part of the effort.
If you are interested in taking a few minutes to help in the cause, consider participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. It is a joint effort of the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, and it is coming up Friday February 16th through Monday the 19th.
Many of you have no doubt noticed that the abundance and diversity of bird species in and around your homes and feeders during winter can be quite variable. Scientists are trying to better understand those difference. With your help, they can obtain some real-time data on where the birds are each year during four days in February.
Around the globe last year, over 200,000 bird enthusiasts compiled over 170,000 checklists documenting the location and abundance of over 5,000 species. Here in the United States over 113,000 checklists documented the location and abundance of over 600 species of birds.
Participating is easy and by no means do you have to be a bird expert. As their website notes, participating is as easy as 1,2,3! You just count birds in your area for at least 15 minutes for as many of the days as you like. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species you see together at any one time. Then when you’re finished, submit your results.
You can check out the Great Backyard Bird Count website at birdcount.org (www.birdsource.org/gbbc/). You will find all the information necessary to participate as well as lots of good information on the project and birds in general. They even have a special section for kids, and the bird count could be a great school or class project. And of course observers of all ages can cooperate and perhaps even have some friendly competition.
A computer is needed to submit checklists. But if you don’t have a computer or do not want to mess with it, find a friend or family member to help you out. It is easy. And it really is fun to do. Plus, shortly after the bird count, you can explore the results online.
Chuck Lura
Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Dakota College at Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.
