The Great Backyard Bird Count ‘24
For four days each February, birdwatchers of every skill level can participate in a global event for the love and wellbeing of birds. On at least one of the four days, participants will spend 15 minutes or more identifying birds in a location of their choice. The birds identified will be submitted to an online database, alongside data from hundreds of thousands of other birders all around the world.
This is a way for anyone with an interest in birds and wildlife to engage with the world around them and learn new things while contributing to a larger collective with the ability to make a positive global impact.
How to Participate
If being a part of this project sounds like a fun way to get outside this February–great! It’s easy:
1. Where/Who/When
This year's bird count runs from Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19. Pick what spot you’d like to bird, and who you’d like to go with. Local parks, trails, forests, around the neighborhood, and yes, even your own backyard, are all lovely options. You can bird anywhere, as long as you can legally and safely access the property, of course.
2. Watch/Listen/Identify
For at least 15 minutes, at least one time over the course of that Friday-Monday, get out there and observe! Sight and sound are the most helpful cues for bird identification. Helpful tools for bird ID include binoculars, field guides, Merlin Bird ID, and a more experienced birder friend. Be sure to keep careful track of each bird species you see, so that data can be collected!
3. Enter Data
The most crucial step - adding to the international database - can be done in any of three ways:
Enter data through the Merlin Bird ID App
Enter data through a checklist on the eBird App
Enter data on eBird through a compute
If you’re already familiar with eBird and/or Merlin, that’s good news, birder! Any lists added to either over the days of the Great Backyard Bird Count will automatically be a part of the count. So, keep up the good work, and make a point to get outside and do some birding the weekend of the count.
Project Goals
With everyone’s help, we can better understand bird populations. Data on species diversity, population numbers, and location can help ornithologists and land managers to make informed decisions on how to best protect birds and the environment as a whole.
Project History
The Great Backyard Bird Count is a partnership between CornellLab, Audubon, and Birds Canada. Originally founded in 1998 by CornellLab and Audubon, the Great Backyard Bird Count is the first ever community science project launched online, with the purpose of collecting data on wild birds and publicly displaying results. Birds Canada became a part of the collaboration in 2009 to expand the scope of the project in Canada (it was limited to the US when created). In 2013, the Great Backyard Bird Count joined with eBird, the world’s largest ongoing biodiversity related community science project, and became global.
Resources
Visit the Great Backyard Bird Count website to learn more about the project, see photos and data from past years, and for anything else Great Backyard Bird Count related!
Visit eBird to expand your bird knowledge and download a list of target potential species for your area, that you can familiarize yourself with ahead of time.
Data from past counts
We are all in this together.
Migratory birds are a lovely reminder that, across oceans and borders, our planet is one whole. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a testament to our force as a collective. It reassures us with proof that individuals who care to engage and participate in the world around them can come together to make a positive global difference. It reminds us to go outside and be in our world. It encourages us to notice and care for the others we share our planet with. And last but not at all least, it gives us that little extra push to go delight in watching a fluffy little bird hopping around. So get out there and look at some birds!
