Do you have fifteen minutes? No, this isn’t a GEICO ad! It’s an invitation to join in the 20th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Launched in 1998 as a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the GBBC was the first online “citizen-science” project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.
Originally conducted just in the United States and Canada, in 2013 the program went worldwide. Last year more than 162,000 participants in more than 130 countries submitted their observations: 5,689 distinct species. One checklist at a time, ordinary people like you and me help build a global map of bird species.
How it works is simple and takes only a little bit of your time. You don’t even have to leave your home, unless you want to. All you need is some basic birding identification skills and access to the Internet. Choose a location – your backyard, a local park, etc. – and once a day observe the birds in your chosen location for about 15 minutes to half an hour. During that time, count the number of birds of each species that you see, taking care to not count the same birds twice. You can count on as many of the Count days as you wish, and as many times a day as you wish; you just submit a separate report for each event.
Instructions are given at gbbc.birdcount.org, including how to not over count. For instance, observers of a backyard bird feeder will record the greatest number of a particular species seen at one time, not the total number of birds that appeared during the entire time of watching. If you’re new to the Count or haven’t participated since before 2013, you’ll need to create a free online account to be able to submit your checklists.
Why bother to count birds? There are two basic reasons. One, the collective data is invaluable to ornithologists in understanding bird migration patterns, how avian diseases spread, and helps them identify needs for conservation efforts, for example, habitat loss or changes in food availability due to climate change.
As it’s explained on the website, “Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.”
Two, helping birds helps our yards and gardens. Birds aren’t just interesting to watch and pretty to listen to. All during the daylight hours, birds eat continuously, consuming many of the insect pests that can plague our plants. The “winter” birds we see at our feeders in the cold months – juncos, tufted titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and sparrows – feast on insects, insect eggs, pupae, and larvae the rest of the year. Downy woodpeckers don’t just eat wood-boring insects, they also chow down on corn earworms, tent caterpillars and apple borers. Most birds, even the seed-eaters, feed their young almost exclusively on insects; soft, juicy larvae make a perfect food for young birds.
This year’s Count takes place from Feb.17 through the 20th. (The Count always goes from a Friday to a Monday, to give more people the chance to participate.)
For complete information, to view records from previous years, and even to find checklists by Zip code for the birds you’re most likely to see in your area, go to gbbc.birdcount.org (no “www” prefix). There’s a ton of useful information on the site, including a link to tips on counting. I recommend spending some time there at least a few days before the Count begins.
Great things can happen when people come together on a project. Taking part in a community project can also be a lot of fun. Happy counting!
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pcbaxter@verizon.net, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Join the conversation at “Chester County Roots,” a Facebook page for gardeners in the Delaware Valley. Go to Facebook, search for Chester County Roots, and “like” the page. To receive notice of updates, click or hover on “Liked” to set your preferences.
