science – New England's Narrow Road

Chickadees — Image by Oregon State University Archives via Flickr

This is the weekend to help scientists keep track of wild birds as you participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. From February 17th through the 21st, many people throughout the U.S. and Canada will be counting birds at the park, on a hike or in their own yards to help inform the folks at the Cornell Lab of Orinthology and the Audubon Society of what birds are up to. The information is then logged in online (or you can get a paper tally to mail in if you don’t have a computer).
Why should we help? As you can imagine, no one group could possibly keep track of what all the birds are doing, so they enlist the help of bird watchers – expert and not – to help get the information from the various areas of the country. The counts can help with migration answers and tell scientists how the winter has affected the bird population and other useful info.

The count is simple to take part in and will take 15 minutes only, or you can count for longer. All information and answers to questions can be found at their website (link below), but basically what you will do is count the largest number of each type of bird you see at any one time and then report it for that date. An online questionnaire will ask where you are located and what the location is like. Were you at a public garden or in a desert? That type of thing. I used to be part of Project FeederWatch where I counted birds all winter and sent in my counts each week. That is another worthwhile endeavor and I enjoyed it.

On the GBBC site there is a page just for kids and getting young ones interested in birds is a wonderful thing. There is a poster to down load, and a page of photo contest winners.

Don’t worry if you are not an expert at distinguishing which bird is which, they answer that question too, and don’t worry if your birds seem boringly ordinary, they still want to know what you see.

Visit the Great Backyard Bird Count page and get started doing your part for the birds.

flock of finches in winter — Count the Finches!

A few years ago I took part in “Project Feeder Watch” and spent a little time counting and recording the bird sightings in my backyard. Once a week I went online and posted the results of my counts where I was able to see who had seen what in my neck of the woods. Even though my sightings might have seemed boring and ordinary, FeederWatch personnel assured us that all counts were important. It was a fun, learning experience and I was able to help with the scientific study at the same time.

In order to count the birds of a species I had to know what it was I was counting and it gave me an opportunity to learn about the birds living around New Hampshire and the ones that would only show up in winter (when we counted). I grew up in Massachusetts where my parents and grandparents always fed the birds and I recognized some of the same ones I’d grown up seeing in my backyard.

I even got interested in what to feed them to keep them coming back or to attract some interesting birds. I learned to make my own suet, and find the best feeders to use. I also found out the hard way that I had to stop feeding them in Spring when the bears would come and tear up my feeders!

Then I moved, and moved and moved…so I gave up my birdwatching, but when and if I get the chance again I would love to contribute once more.

It’s probably why I still get updates from the Cornell Lab of Orinthology, the people who runs the bird counts, and today received an update on what is being done down on the gulf coast.

It’s reassuring to know that some places are being diligently protected, such as Breton Island (slide show), home to thousands of birds who make their home near the water in Louisiana. But as the writer pointed out, the birds don’t recognize the danger. When there are clean islands nearby, they choose to stay and forage in the oil soaked waters. He also says that to try and save the ones that are in danger would be more disastrous than to leave them alone.

Watching all birds is serious business for these scientist who use the data to record falling numbers or population explosions. What happens with birds does affect the world around us.

A reader left a comment here on my site that she is afraid that many unscrupulous places will try to take our money to help and do nothing, but I believe, because of their long history of helping birds, that this is one place that will put it to good use.

By the way, if you live near the Gulf they need watchers to report on what is going on with the birds there.

Check out their site at Cornell Labs where you can read more about the Gulf oil and it’s effects and donate to their efforts if you are so inclined. And if you want to be part of the seasonal counting in your area, click the link at the beginning of this post.