Dear Citizens,
Mid-February heralds the arrival of yet another Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Held each year since 1998 in partnership with Audubon, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, this event will be held this year on Feb. 15-18, 2013 (this coming weekend starting tomorrow).
Unlike past GBBC's which only included Canada and the United States, this year's event has gone global. Anyone anywhere in the world can participate thanks to eBird.
Scientists can't be everywhere. The data gathered by participants will provide scientists with an unprecedented snapshot of bird species, numbers and movements around the world for the 4-day period of the count, worldwide.
Scaled Quail, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Note that anyone can participate. If you spot a bird you don't know, simply do not enter it (better to not enter it than to take a wild guess). If you can only bird on a certain day, no problem. You can bird any or all days of the count, for as little as 15 minutes on any given day. If you are counting from a stationary location such as your backyard, only count the most birds of a certain species you see at any one time. For example, if you see three House Sparrows in your yard at 8AM, and a couple of hours later you see five, you would enter five House Sparrows.
Black-throated Sparrow, Organ Mountains, New Mexico
You do not have to count your backyard (apartment or city dwellers may well not have that option). You can bird any place such as a local park or wildlife sanctuary or refuge. You can also bird multiple locations on any given day. You just need to keep track of your time spent birding, distance traveled at each location, and record the number of birds seen of each species. This can be tricky with large flocks of birds. You can try just counting a subset the group, say approximately one fifth of the birds seen, then multiply by five.
Belted Kingfisher, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico
Please participate and share your pictures here or with the GBBC website (where you can enter their photo contest and win a prize!).