Dan's Gardening and Birding Blog: Worldwide Great Backyard Bird Count Results

I hope you enjoyed my post on February 18, 2014, in which I gave my personal results for the GBBC:

http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/02/great-backyard-bird-count-results-photos.html

I thought it would be interesting to share some results of the GGBC on a larger scale. Each year, this worldwide event has become more and more successful. The GBBC was launched in 1998 as a joint venture between the Cornell Lab or Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Since then, more than 100,000 people of all ages worldwide have participated in the four day event each February.

So far this year, 141,912 checklists have been submitted worldwide. Included on these checklists were 4,185 individual spices and 17,537,172 total birds.

These numbers will change constantly this week as checklists can still be submitted until this Friday, February 28th.

So check out the GBBC website (http://gbbc.birdcount.org/) for the interesting results You can even see results for your local town or county. Each year, participants take beautiful photos during the count and enter them in the photo contest included in the GBBC. The deadline for photo submission is March 31, 2014.

Carolina Chickadee - Photo submitted by Georgette McGehee

Fort Polk North, LA, United States

So did you miss the GBBC and want to participate in a research project by observing and counting birds? Not to worry.

Another option is to join Project Feeder Watch, a winter long survey of birds (http://feederwatch.org/).

This project is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. The simplified instructions are as follows.

Sign up – If you have not yet signed up, join today! During the season, it takes a few weeks from when you sign up for your kit to arrive with your ID number and for your ID number to be activated in Your Data.
Select your count site – Choose a portion of your yard that is easy to monitor, typically an area with feeders that is visible from one vantage point.
Choose your count days – Select two consecutive days as often as once a week (less often is fine). Leave at least five days when you do not count between each of your two-day counts.
How to count – Watch your feeders as much or a little as you want over your selected count days. Record the maximum number of each species visible at any one time during your two-day count. Do not add your counts together!
What to count – Please count

all of the individuals of each species in view at any one time
birds attracted to food or water you provided
birds attracted to fruits or ornamental plantings
hawks and other predatory birds that are attracted by the birds at your feeders

The cost is $15 per year. Right now the $15 membership includes the 2014-2015 membership also. This year's count runs through Friday, April 4th. Just enough time to get acclimated and ready for next year! Join soon as it takes a few weeks to become a member.