Join the Great Backyard Bird Count—for science!

By Kate Wong

What are you doing this weekend? Valentine’s Day and, in the U.S., Presidents’ Day are coming up, followed by the start of the Lunar New Year. Perhaps less widely known is that the next few days are also literally for the birds. I’m talking about the Great Backyard Bird Count, a project that avian enthusiasts around the globe can participate in to help scientists understand how birds are faring in our changing world.

The count, organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society and Birds Canada, is held for four days each February to take stock of global bird populations before they undertake migration starting in March. This year’s event runs from February 13 through February 16. During this time, participants are encouraged to observe birds in a location of their choosing for 15 minutes or more at least once, and identify and count all of the birds they encounter in that interval. People can report their findings—and share any photos—via the eBird or Merlin Bird ID apps, which are available for iOS and Android smartphones.

Participants of all skill levels are welcome. If you’re new to bird identification, the Merlin Bird ID app can help you figure out what kind of bird you’re looking at or hearing. There are lots of excellent tools for bird identification and appreciation out there. (If you really want to nerd out, check out the Cornell lab’s new phylogeny explorer, which allows you to delve into the entire family tree of birds.) Or you could go old-school—forgo the gadgets and record your observations with pen and paper in the field, then enter your data into eBird afterward.

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By participating in the count, you’ll be joining a large community of like-minded bird fans. In the 2024 event, some 642,000 people from 210 countries or subregions found 7,920 species. Birders in India reported several imperiled species such as the Andaman Serpent-Eagle. Birders in Canada observed species that had wandered well outside their usual ranges, such as Lapland Longspurs in Saskatchewan and Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches in the Northwest Territories. In California there were rare February sightings of Plumbeous Vireos and Summer Tanagers, which normally spend this time of year farther south and only go to California to breed in the spring. It may be that with milder winters in that region in recent years, these birds are staying in their breeding territories year-round or they are migrating there earlier than they used to.

In the northeastern U.S. where I live, an especially cold and snowy winter has largely limited my birding efforts of late to peering out of my kitchen window at the birdfeeder. So I have a pretty good idea of who will visit it this weekend. Dark-eyed Juncos, Tufted Titmice, House Sparrows, House Finches, Mourning Doves and European Starlings will dominate. Some White-throated Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Song Sparrows, White-breasted Nuthatches and my resident Carolina Wren will make appearances, as well as Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays will drop in, too, dressed in the bright colors I crave in the dreary season.

Venturing beyond the kitchen window will bring more species. The other day, when it finally warmed up just enough to go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood, I was delighted to find two Eastern Bluebirds, a Hairy Woodpecker and a Brown Creeper in the cedars at the end of the driveway. Down the street a Northern Mockingbird fed on the withered berries of a bittersweet vine; a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker mewed unseen in the distance.

I might head to a nearby reservoir or beach to look for ducks—after all, here in the northeast, winter is weird duck time, as the wonderful cartoonist Rosemary Mosco calls it. Or maybe I’ll journey north in search of Evening Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills. Come to think of it, I haven’t visited the local sewage plant lately. I wonder whether any warblers decided to linger there in its relatively balmy, if somewhat stinky, microclimate instead of making the long journey south to their usual wintering grounds.

At night I’ll be keeping an ear out for the pair of Great Horned Owls that have been hooting their signature Who’s awake? Me too! song to each other since December. I’ve never laid eyes on this particular couple, but I love knowing that they’re around. This time of year they’re getting ready to lay their eggs. With luck, in a few months, the screams of their hungry owlets will pierce the night air.

What birds will you observe in your corner of the world? I can’t wait to find out!

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