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Great Backyard Bird Count

lpflynn@optonline.net

Sun, Feb 8, 2009 6:09 PM

Best,
Larry Flynn

What is the Great Backyard Bird Count? It’s a fun, easy, and free annual event that anyone can participate in, and it helps the birds! Tens of thousands of people from across the United States and Canada will count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 13-16, 2009. Then they send their counts to the Great Backyard Bird Count web site.

This creates a real-time picture of where the birds are—something that would be impossible without participants counting from communities everywhere. Last year, they reported more than 9.8 million birds of 635 different species. They sent in 85,000+ checklists, an all-time record.
Every checklist counts! Scientists can use the information to learn more about birds and work toward their conservation. By looking at trends over time, they find out which species may declining and how they may be affected by factors such as urbanization, West Nile virus, or global warming.
The
GBBC is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, with sponsorship by Wild Birds Unlimited.

Why should people participate? It’s fun to watch birds and see how your counts fit in with the big picture, and to contribute to a long-term record that scientists can use well into the future to keep track of how birds are faring. Also, it’s easy; wherever you happen to be, just count the highest number of each kind of bird you see at any one time…that’s it!

How do people participate? It’s easy—anyone can do it. Just watch birds anywhere for at least 15 minutes. Record the highest number of birds you see at any one time. Then enter your counts online at the Great Backyard Bird Count web site www.birdcount.org. Instructions, bird watching tips, and photos are also available on the website and you can also see what others are reporting throughout the U.S. and Canada.

What kinds of birds do people see? All sorts of birds! Participants reported 635 species last year. For a list of last year’s local results or the GBBC top 10 birds, visit the results page.

What have scientists learned from past counts? The Great Backyard Bird Count provides an amazing amount of information about the locations and numbers of birds, including the spring migratory routes of Sandhill Cranes, records of lingering migrants such as Orange-crowned Warblers and Tree Swallows. Every year we see the range of the introduced Eurasian Collared-Doves expanding. We see the decline in numbers of some species and increases in others. For more examples, visit the “Science Stories” section of the web site.

Hi folks, just a quick reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count is on schedule for this coming weekend, Feb 13-16. Wouldn't it be really cool if everyone reported all those Pine Siskens that we are hosting in our backyards, the huge flocks off Scoter, Scaup and other Sea ducks on the Sound, and all the other wintering birds in Connecticut? With just a little effort we as a whole can give the scientist working this project an incredible amount of information as to what species and how many birds are here at this time, it is also a great time to sign up with EBIRD. One of the fun things with this project is that all the data coming in is updated often and is very easy to view, you can search all the towns reporting, how many species reported, how many birds, how many list and so on, fun information that we can all look at in real time. You can also send your photos in and maybe win a nice prize.So here is some information on the GBBC. Best, Larry Flynn What is the Great Backyard Bird Count? It’s a fun, easy, and free annual event that anyone can participate in, and it helps the birds! Tens of thousands of people from across the United States and Canada will count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 13-16, 2009. Then they send their counts to the Great Backyard Bird Count web site. This creates a real-time picture of where the birds are—something that would be impossible without participants counting from communities everywhere. Last year, they reported more than 9.8 million birds of 635 different species. They sent in 85,000+ checklists, an all-time record. Every checklist counts! Scientists can use the information to learn more about birds and work toward their conservation. By looking at trends over time, they find out which species may declining and how they may be affected by factors such as urbanization, West Nile virus, or global warming. The GBBC is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, with sponsorship by Wild Birds Unlimited. Why should people participate? It’s fun to watch birds and see how your counts fit in with the big picture, and to contribute to a long-term record that scientists can use well into the future to keep track of how birds are faring. Also, it’s easy; wherever you happen to be, just count the highest number of each kind of bird you see at any one time…that’s it! How do people participate? It’s easy—anyone can do it. Just watch birds anywhere for at least 15 minutes. Record the highest number of birds you see at any one time. Then enter your counts online at the Great Backyard Bird Count web site www.birdcount.org. Instructions, bird watching tips, and photos are also available on the website and you can also see what others are reporting throughout the U.S. and Canada. What kinds of birds do people see? All sorts of birds! Participants reported 635 species last year. For a list of last year’s local results or the GBBC top 10 birds, visit the results page. What have scientists learned from past counts? The Great Backyard Bird Count provides an amazing amount of information about the locations and numbers of birds, including the spring migratory routes of Sandhill Cranes, records of lingering migrants such as Orange-crowned Warblers and Tree Swallows. Every year we see the range of the introduced Eurasian Collared-Doves expanding. We see the decline in numbers of some species and increases in others. For more examples, visit the “Science Stories” section of the web site.