Tens of
thousands of people will be outside (or looking through
their windows), counting birds. Feb. 15-18. You can be one
of them! Which birds are spending their winter with you
this year? Take part in the 10th annual Great Backyard Bird
Count (GBBC) to see how your local birds fit into the landscape
of North America.
You'll learn
more about the birds around you. People of all ages and
all levels of experience and skill can take part. Whether
you count the five species at your backyard feeder, or the
74 species you see during a day's visit to your neighborhood
park or wildlife refuge, it's important that you report
what you see to the GBBC website http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc
. Your bird list, however short or long, helps us all understand
more about birds across the continent, as indicators of
the state of the world around us. As you enter your results,
you'll see how a group of tens of thousands of birdwatchers
can paint a picture of our birds in winter.
In 2006, with
cold air trapped in Canada and Alaska by a northerly jet
stream, and a record-breaking warm winter in the lower 48,
GBBC results revealed:
•
an increase in the numbers and northern distribution
of Tree Swallow to 20 U.S. states;
•
Common Repolls and other winter finches remained
in northern Canada in the West, and flooded south in the
east;
•
American Robins returning early to the Northwest
were pushed back to cold weather in British Columbia rest
in huge numbers in the fruit-growing areas of Washington
state;
•
record counts of Snowy Owls south of the U.S.-Canada
border;
•
Pine Warbler and Orange-crowned Warbler reported
by more observers farther north into Nova Scotia and British
Columbia.
Join other
birders this year, and have fun as you learn more about
the birds around you. |
