Saturday, February 19, 2022

The Great Backyard Bird Count

I can remember, growing up in an apartment complex in the Bronx, my mother throwing a slice of white bread out the window onto the small lawn below.  I would watch as pigeons and sparrows descended on the bread.

I had no way of knowing that bread was probably the worst thing to feed a bird, but no matter - I was transfixed by the sight below.

Some 60 years later, my spouse, increasingly fascinated by birds himself, bought our first bird feeder.  We've been feeding birds for almost a year now, and learning more about them.

We are far from expert, and my spouse is far better than I am.   But this event doesn't care.

The Great Backyard Bird Count, now in its 25th year, is a worldwide event taking place February 18-21.  No registration is required.  All you need is 15 minutes of your time, but you can devote as much time (just a minimum of 15 minutes) per watch.  You don't need a backyard, either.  You can bird anywhere - from your kitchen window, from an exercise walk, from a stroll along a river, on the beach.  Anywhere counts, city or country.  Little or no experience is needed.  

Chances are, you already are familiar with some of the birds in your area.  If not, there are various online ways to identify your new friends.

This site is the home page of the Count.  There are several ways to report your findings and you have a few days to do it in.  Good pictures are encouraged but not required.

This count is actually quite important to scientists who study birds to understand bird population changes, and much more.


Here are some of my friends.  

Today, where I live, it is blustery and we've had one snow squall, but it isn't keeping the birds away.  (Full disclosure, this picture was taken February 9).  The birds on the ground on the left are mourning doves.  On the feeder right above them are a pair of northern cardinals.  Between the feeder pole and the tree is a small bird, a dark-eyed junco.

I don't have a good camera that can zoom in, and I don't want to give my readers eye strain.

Here's a picture of the sky during the squall.

Birds we've seen so far include: black capped chickadees, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, northern cardinals, mourning doves, hairy, red bellied, and downy woodpeckers, dark eyed juncos, a song sparrow (we think), and even a blue jay (rare visitors to our yard).

It's estimated over 300,000 people participated in the 2021 count.  Will you be one of those participating in 2022?

13 comments:

  1. ...I have the great backyard squirrel count!

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    1. I do, also. When I see them attacking my feeder, I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

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  2. I am participating this weekend. So far, we've seen: Carolina Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, American Crows, Carolina Wrens, American Goldfinches, Pine Warblers, Turkey Vultures, and Black Vultures.

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    1. Nice selection. Reminds me, I forgot to list my American Goldfinches. We also saw starlings today (ugh). Not sure if it's my imagination but at least one goldfinch seems to be showing a little bit of yellow - maybe close to shedding its winter colors?

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  3. At my mother’s house you would have seen a lot of blue jays. For some reason they love her yard. I’ve also seen, at various times, cardinals, robins, crows and doves, and I’ve heard woodpeckers and owls. I’m sure there are other types of birds in the woods behind her house as well.

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    1. Probably are - I need to improve my skills, for sure.

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  4. The GBBC is probably my favorite citizen science project. I look forward to it every year. I particularly love that anyone can participate regardless of skill level.

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    1. I am having a good time, Dorothy. Hoping the weather this afternoon is more decent so I can get out and walk and see or hear other birds.

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  5. This is great! I'll participate if I can but definitely sending this info to all my birding friends, thanks!

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  6. Every year our nature club organized a backyard bird count in which about a dozen to fifteen people participated, on average. We would always start at the house of a fellow who has a large rural property and they provided coffee, hot cider, muffins etc and we would spent about a half hour counting there. Then we moved on to another house, this time in a suburban neighborhood, and repeated the same exercise. Our final stop was at the home of a club member with a farm and a large house with huge picture windows where we could look out over a pond and a wooded area. There we had lunch provided by the host, counted the birds and then gabbed on until mid afternoon. It was lots of fun. COVID of course has put a stop to it for the past couple of years. Hopefully, we can get back to it next year!

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    1. David, I hope so, too. That really does sound like fun! So far it's just my husband and I with some advice here and there from our local Wild Birds Unlimited store (great folks!)

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  7. I'd have to sit with the bird identifier to identify the birds. We have a few I have no idea the name of. And then there are the ducks and Canadian geese (they're back!) and hummingbirds.

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