Great Backyard Bird Count plots bird locations across U.S., Canada

The snow goose was the most common species found in Missouri in the just-completed Great Backyard Birdcount, a research project involving birders from across the United States and Canada. The project allows researchers to plot the location of birds all over the continent and supports avian conservation.

"It gets a lot of people involved in a volunteer activity that collects meaningful data on bird distribution in abundance," said Dr. William Eddleman, professor and chair of the biology department at Southeast Missouri State University and chairman of the Missouri Bird Records Committee. "When you put every backyard count together, it creates a pretty complete picture of what's going on out there."

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Wild Birds Unlimited sponsored the national bird counting event from Feb. 16 to 19.

By compiling the counts, researchers can learn about different species of birds, such as how cold weather affects bird populations, how the timing of birds' migrations compare with the previous year and how bird diseases such as West Nile virus are affecting birds in different regions.

Participants were required to count birds for at least 15 minutes for as many of the four days as they chose and were able to submit checklists until Wednesday. Nearly 80,000 checklists were turned in this year, which broke the national record of 61,049 set in 2000.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States has 51.3 million birders, and the number continues to grow.

Eddleman said it's usually hard to get people in this area motivated to participate in events like this. In 2006, only two checklists were counted in Cape Girardeau, reporting 11 species and 84 birds total.

This year, the number of participants here rose to 22 checklists that counted 42 species and 4,379 birds, placing Cape Girardeau among the top 10 cities in the state for most checklists turned in. On the national level, more than 10 million birds were counted, compared to the 7 1/2 million counted last year.

The snow goose is a medium-sized goose that breeds on the Arctic tundra in the summer and flies south to the Midwest in the winter. The next most common species in Missouri were the dark-eyed junco, Canada goose and the red-winged blackbird.

lbertrand@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 134