Articles & Resources
The Great Backyard Bird Count
Millions of novice and accomplished bird watchers can make their
fascination with nature add up for science and for the future during
the 11th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, led by Audubon and the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology. During "Presidents' Day" weekend,
February 15-18, 2008, anyone can count birds from wherever they are
and enter their tallies online at www.birdcount.org.
These reports create an exciting real-time picture of where the birds
are across the continent and contribute valuable information for science
and conservation.
 People
of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part wherever
they are-at home, in schoolyards, at local parks or wildlife refuges,
even counting birds on a balcony. Observers count the highest number
of each species they see during at least 15 minutes on one or more
of the count days. Then they enter their tallies on the Great Backyard
Bird Count web site www.birdcount.org.
The web site provides helpful hints for identifying birds. Participants
can compare results from their town or region with others, as checklists
pour in from throughout the U.S. and Canada. They can also view bird
photos taken by participants during the count and send in their own
digital images for the online photo gallery and contest.
 In
2007, Great Backyard Bird Count participants made history, breaking
records for the number of birds reported, and the number of checklists.
Participants sent in 81,203 checklists tallying 11,082,387 birds of
613 species. Already, the count results show how the numbers of some
birds species have changed in recent years, such as a decline in Northern
Pintails and an increase in Hooded Mergansers, consistent with trends
from the Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey.
For more information on how to participate, including identification
tips, photos, bird sounds, maps, and information on over 500 bird
species, visit www.birdcount.org.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is sponsored in part by Wild Birds
Unlimited.
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