2021 Great Backyard Bird Count Starts Soon

This year's Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) starts in less than a week. Join this fun, citizen scientist project for a minimum of 15 minutes at a time, whenever you have the time on February 12-15. The goal is to count the birds that you see and record your data for scientists to use in their studies.

To get ready, find your binoculars and grab a birding guide to help you identify any birds you are not familiar with. There are several good birding field guide books and apps you can install on your phone or tablet. A camera can also be helpful for identification.

I will be doing a livestream on Friday, February 12 at 10am to provide how to information and hopefully answer any questions viewers may have. I will post a link a few days before the livestream in the discussion tab on my City's GBBC event page.

While I have not seen them for a couple of weeks, I had some new visitors to my yard for a month or more recently. The photo in this post is of one of the pair. Can you identify this bird as it plays peekaboo in my bald cypress tree? (Click on the images to see a larger view.) If you can or have a guess, please write it in the comments.

After I see a correct ID, I will add a photo that shows more of the bird.

I hope you get a chance to join my GBBC livestream and/or participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count this year. Making time to observe nature, whether from in your home or outdoors, is good for your mood. So do something positive for yourself and the birds and join in the fun.

Update: While I had not seen the yellow-shafted northern flickers for a couple of weeks when I wrote this blog post, they did show up to be counted during the GBBC. I have added the second photo to this post so you get a better view of this bird as it pops out of hiding to say, "Here I am".

20th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

It's almost here! Dust off your binoculars and print out your local bird checklist because the 20th annual Great Backyard Bird Count happens February 17-20, 2017.

If you aren't familiar with the GBBC it "is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are." Why is this important? Analyzing the data can help scientists answer a variety of questions about migratory patterns, health of bird populations, climate changes, etc. They need our help as citizen scientists to gather this data as there are not enough scientists in all parts of the world to do so. Do your part and have some fun while you are at it. Grab your checklist and head out with your binoculars for some fun outdoors while you count birds. Data submission is easy. GBBC has online resources to help you identify the birds that you find. If you enjoy photographing birds, there is even a photo contest. See last year's photo gallery for inspiration. Happy Counting!

For my newsletter subscribers that were wondering about the solution to why I no longer think the red-bellied woodpecker is grossly misnamed, check out the second woodpecker photo (bottom photo - male). My husband and I have often wondered aloud why red-bellied instead of red-headed when we would see this woodpecker (left photo - female). It turns out, we never had an angle on the bird that allowed us to see the red bit on the belly that you can see in this photo.

2015 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)

It's almost time again for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Since I started participating several years ago, I have added to my knowledge of the different birds that visit my yard and neighborhood.

Some bird species hang around all year and some are moving through the area this time of year. If you are on the lookout you will see species that you wouldn't expect based on bird watching during much of the rest of the year. You will find a list of all the birds I identified last year as well as a montage of some of the ones I saw in this previous blog post. Will you be able to identify more?

Whether the weather is good or bad, the data that you collect during the GBBC helps scientists answer many questions about the distribution of birds and potentially the ecosystems that surround us. Find out how to get involved on the Great Backyard Bird Count's website. Then when February 13-16 roles around, print out a list of birds you could see in your locale, grab your pencil, binoculars and bird ID book or app and get counting. (A great bird ID app is Merlin from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.)

Need more inspiration? These photos submitted to the GBBC last year from across the globe should provide some. Happy Birding!

Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) 2013

It's almost here, the 16th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) and it is new and improved! You don't have to be in North America to participate. The GBBC has gone global. Count birds from Friday, February 15 through Monday, February 18. A good pair of binoculars and a field guide are handy but not required for your participation. You will want to download a bird list tailored to your region so that you can tally the birds that you see while you are birdwatching and counting. Take this opportunity to get out and enjoy some fresh air and the natural world while providing important data to researchers.

The data that is collected from all participating citizen scientists (Yes this is what you are if you collect and submit at least one day's worth of data.) is analyzed to find out what effect weather patterns have on bird populations, whether migratory patterns are changing and much more. More details such as how to participate in the count and the photo contest as well as why it is important to count the birds can be found on the Great Backyard Bird Count website.