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Do you have a couple of bird feeders outside your window? You can turn them into a family science project by joining the 15th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. In the process, your kids might take a new interest in the great variety of birds pecking at all those sunflower seeds.
Participating in the bird count couldnt be easier. All you have to do is commit to bird watching in your backyard for at least 15 minutes on one or all of the days between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20. Keep track of the number and species you see, then submit your checklists online.
Last year, volunteer observers just like you turned in more than 92,000 checklists, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. Altogether, participants identified 596 species and made 11.4 million bird observations. The data helps researchers learn more about how the birds are doing in the environment we share.
At the bird counts official website, youll find tips to help you identify birds and special materials for educators. You can upload images and enter the GBBC photo contest. There are prizes to win, including bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs and many other great birding products. The site also will provide real-time maps and charts, showing what others are reporting during the count.
In Fairfield and Westchester counties, you can expect the three common bird foods sunflower seed, thistle seed and suet to attract upward of 20 different species. First will be the black capped chickadees, tufted titmouse and white-throated sparrows, followed by a dazzling array of wintertime regulars as well as species that are uncommon or even rare. My own backyard list has grown to about 60 names.
If youre not sure that youll be able to identify the birds, try it with experts by your side. On Feb. 18, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., you can accompany the Audubon Greenwich staff as they take a walk to count birds for the count, then return to the center and report the data online. Admission is $3 for adult members and $1.50 for their kids. Adult non-members pay $5 and $3 for their kids. To reserve a space contact Ted at 203-869-5272 x 230. This annual winter bird count is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada.
If you and your family get hooked on backyard birding, you might join Project FeederWatch. Its a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at nature centers, yards, community areas and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through early April. This helps scientists track broad movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. You can sit for 30 minutes or more at your kitchen table, count your birds and be part of a wide network of volunteers who are helping international bird conservation.
If you live in an urban area or apartment house, Cornell Lab invites you to Celebrate Urban Birds. In a green space no larger than half a basketball court, you might see up to16 species. You and your kids can also help scientists assess the value of green spaces for birds. Some come to spaces as small as sunflowers you might plant in pots. The National Forum on Children and Nature chose Celebrate Urban Birds as one of 30 nationally significant projects to connect children with the outdoors.
Another favorite is PigeonWatch. By reporting on local pigeons, you will help researchers understand why such a variation in their colors exists.
Or go online and watch NestCam, where observers from all around the world can enjoy live images and streaming videos of birds brooding their eggs and feeding their young. Over the past 10 years, NestCams have shown hundreds of thousands of watchers the nesting behavior of eastern bluebirds, barn owls, peregrine falcons, wood ducks, chimney swifts, American kestrels and many other birds.
Backyard birding is a great family enterprise. In fact, one out of four Americans is already a birdwatcher, according to the State of the Birds Report. All you need to play is pair of binoculars and a bird identification guide. The Peterson Field Guide or the Sibley Guide to Eastern Birds are two of the most well known and in almost any bookstore.
Who knows? you might be cultivating the next Ben Van Doren, a White Plains high school student who was just chosen as one of the 40 national finalists in the 2012 Intel Science Competition for his study of bird migration.
Teaching children their birds builds on their natural sense of awe, making them aware of how much life exists right outside their back door. Then going outside becomes something exciting, something worth turning off the television or computer game, and doing!
John Hannan is director of development forAudubon in Connecticut and can be reached at jhannan@audubon.org.
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