Beginning Friday, February 16 and going through Monday, February 19, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in conjunction with the National Audubon Society, will be conducting the 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Anyone can take part in this great citizen science project. Last year, approximately 334,000 people from 253 countries (over 160,000 from North America) participated. Their observations created the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded. This information helps ornithologists learn about bird populations and how to protect them and the environment we share.
The Cornell Lab, in collaboration with other researchers, recently published a study which determined that North America is home to nearly three billion fewer birds than in 1970. That means that almost one out of every four birds has disappeared from our lives over the last fifty years.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count whether you are an expert, novice or just like to watch the birds at your feeders or in your own yard. I would encourage you to participate. It is fun and can be very educational for you, your kids or grandchildren, plus bird populations are always shifting and changing. You can indeed help make a difference. Your information would be a great help to research.
You can spend as little as 15 minutes or as much time as you want counting birds. Protocol asks you to count for at least 15 minutes at one site during the four days or you can do as many counts as you want. You can stick to looking out your window in your yard or do counts at various locations such as in your neighborhood, at parks, wildlife areas, nature centers, conservation areas, forests, fields, streams, etc. You can move between locations and spend as much or as little time as you want.
Each time you do a count record start and end times, each species (and how many of those species) you saw or heard. You, by no means, need to be an expert birder to participate in this project. There are lots of easy-to-use resources to help ID birds in your area. During the winter there will be 10-15 different species of birds you will see the majority of the time. Even if you are a first time birder, use your phone or computer, do a web search for “winter birds in Missouri” and you will have the knowledge to conduct a winter bird count. iNaturalist is an excellent site for any type of nature identification. Download the app to your phone, take a picture of what you want to identify, post it on this app and within seconds you'll have a reply. Merlin Bird ID from Cornell Labs is also an excellent app to use to record a call and immediately identify what bird you’re hearing. Both apps are free.
Be as accurate as possible but don’t panic if you can’t identify each and every bird. It’s the same with the numbers: counting a flock of birds fluttering around can be challenging; estimate when you have to.
If you are interested, go online and type in birdcount.org to sign up. There will also be lots of information on sites to help with bird identification.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
