Next month is the four day Great Backyard Bird Count, a project by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon.
Citizens submit their bird checklists of birds that they observed in their yards or local parks online, for any or all of the four days.
Scientists use the results to study bird populations. The count can highlight if there's an irruption (when bird species move outside of their typical range) or a decline in population numbers.
We have participated for the last several years, submitting our bird checklist for each of the four days of the count.
Not sure if you can ID birds?
There's an online bird guide if you don't have any bird books.
If you like to watch or feed birds during the winter months, this is a great family activity especially if you have kids. Check out the kids' page on their website.
There's also a photography contest, so if you have some great shots of birds you can enter them into the photography contest.
You can view the previous year's winners in the Photo Gallery.
Also, look over previous year's results by bird species or look up the tally for your State or Province.
Fellow bloggers
Add the GBBC web buttons to your blog (several to chose from on the GBBC website).
You can view the previous year's winners in the Photo Gallery.
Also, look over previous year's results by bird species or look up the tally for your State or Province.
Here's an example of the sightings of Northern Shrikes in the Great Lakes area for the 2010 bird count.
