Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 14-17

Red-breasted Nuthatch by Karen E. Brown

Launched in 1988 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Now, more than 160,000 people of all ages worldwide join the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

In order to participate, the general public needs to spend at least 15 minutes on one or more days between February 14-17 to simply tally and record the numbers and varieties of birds that they see. Counting can be done from any location, anywhere in the world.

For those who are new to the count, or have not participated since before the 2013 merger with eBird, you must create a free online account (https://bit.ly/2S0F12x) to enter your checklists. If you already have an account, just use the same login name and password. If you have already participated in another Cornell Lab citizen-science project, you can use your existing login information, too.

In 2019, Great Backyard Bird Count participants in more than 100 countries counted more than 6,800 species of birds on more than 200,000 checklists.

During the count, you can explore what others are seeing in your area or around the world. Share your bird photos by entering the contest, or enjoy images pouring in from across the globe at https://gbbc.birdcount.org/.