Take Fifteen Minutes and Help Make a World of Difference
During February 16th-19th, counting birds in your backyard will help create a real time, global snapshot of wild bird populations and their locations.
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a four day, world-wide count that helps us learn more about wild birds and changes in their territories over time.
Just three super-easy steps!
Visit Birdcount.org for all the details, but this is basically how it works:
- Create your free Great Backyard Bird Count account at birdcount.org.
- Count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 16-19. You can submit more checklists! Keep a checklist for each count you do in additional locations, different times or on other days during the GBBC.
- Submit your results on the GBBC website or download the free eBird Mobile app.
How your count helps wild birds.
With data from citizen-science, scientists can better determine how birds are affected by habitat loss, pollution and disease. Knowing where greatest needs are for species-specific conservation leads to targeted action to help birds’ survival.
How your count makes a world of difference.
Online citizen-science projects, like GBBC, offer research opportunities at a global scale. Our real-time observations and those of other volunteers world-wide are helping researchers identify and track larger trends in a changing climate.
Citizen-science offers unlimited opportunities to make a difference
The GBBC, launched in 1998, was the first online citizen-science project. Now, there are many more than we can list here! The CitizenScience.gov catalog alone has 497 project listings.
For teachers, parents and mentors of junior citizen scientists
This is the perfect opportunity to share your love of birding with kids. The Cornell Lab‘s ‘Feathered Friends’ GBBC info and family activities sheet is just one of their many FREE, fun and educational resources to help you inspire and nurture a child’s life-long connection with nature.
Thank you for creating and maintaining sanctuaries for your backyard birds.
Together, backyard by backyard, we are all making a difference.
Your continuing support of our efforts here at the store means the world to us. We can’t begin to thank you enough!
Debi & Mike Klein and The Backyard Naturalist Team
P.S. It’s not too early to start Thinking Bluebirds!!! Nesting season is so close, now. Are you seeing Eastern Bluebirds in your backyard count?
Left: Future parents scouting a Gilbertson Bluebird nest box.
