Saturday, February 06, 2010

GBBC Next Week

Female Northern Cardinal, Summerville, SC by Mark Musselman
The Great Backyard Bird Count is next weekend (Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010)! Below are excerpts from the site:

“Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds—all at the same time," said Audubon Education Vice President, Judy Braus. "Even if you can only identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities.”

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at http://www.birdcount.org/.

On the http://www.birdcount.org/ website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website’s photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.


Remember, like our 15-minute Bird Blitz blog entry this week, you don't need to spend a great deal of time observing birds nor do you need to be an expert ornithologist. Spend as little as 15 minutes and report what you know or can identify using a field guide.


It is no mistake that backyard is a key word in this citizen science project!


Image by Mark Musselman

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