Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 16 to 19

Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things. Join the Cornell Bird Lab's Great Backyard Bird Count this year from Friday, Feb. 16, through Monday, Feb. 19.

You can count them anywhere -- even looking out the window at your bird feeders or in your yard. Count birds this year, improve your landscape, and see what your counts are next February.

This is a great time of the year to see birds in the winter trees. Spend as little as 15 minutes in your favorite places watching birds. Then identify them, count them, and submit the data to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. Full instructions and tips on counting the birds is at https://www.birdcount.org/.

Why count birds? The Cornell Bird Lab notes that bird populations are constantly changing, and no one scientist, or team of scientists, can keep track of the complicated movement of species around the world. Individuals, and teams of ordinary citizens, can become community scientists and record the species of birds and their numbers in their own backyard.

Information from the GBBC is added to other survey and data collection sources. Scientists can then learn how birds are affected by environmental changes. When gathered over a number of years, the data can show how a species range is changing and may indicate that there are changes in the environment that need attention. After 90 years of community scientist participation, the Audubon Society reported that "all groups of birds were seen responding to climate-related changes in temperature and precipitation" affecting their winter ranges.

The GBBC is a great family activity. Bundle up, grab a pencil and pad, and take a short winter hike or take turns watching the bird feeder in your yard. For teachers and homeschoolers, the Cornell Bird Lab [https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home] has an abundance of online educational resources that may be of interest. There are free downloadable lessons, clubs, and community science programs for K-12 and information for undergraduate and graduate students, too.