Bird and nature lovers will unite this month for the 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count.
The event is an effort to tally as many of the world’s bird species as possible over four days, Feb. 17 to 20.
Combined with other counts, the Great Backyard Bird Count results help create a clearer picture of how birds are faring – whether individual species are declining, increasing or holding steady in the face of habitat loss, climate change and other threats.
“Based on the recently released State of the Birds report, we know that half the bird species in the United States alone are decreasing,” David Bonter, co-director of the Center for Engagement in Science and Nature at Cornell Lab, said in a news release. “We absolutely need the eyes and ears of birdwatchers to give us the big picture when it comes to shifting bird populations.”
Each participant or group counts birds for any length of time (but for at least 15 minutes) and enters the birds they could identify at each site where they did their sighting, whether that be from home, at a local park, or wilderness area.
Sightings are entered online at the Great Backyard Bird Count website (birdcount.org), the Merlin Bird ID app, or the eBird website at ebird.org, which powers the count and is the largest database of bird observations in the world.
People of all ages and skill levels are welcome to participate. An estimated 385,000 people submitted checklists last year, reporting more than 7,000 species from 292 countries. The Great Backyard Bird Count website has tools and information to help birdwatching newbies and veterans participate in the count.
More details are also available at birdscanada.org.