Citizen Scientists Get Involved in Great Backyard Bird Count

Bird and nature lovers across North America are invited to join tens of thousands of everyday bird watchers in counting birds and reporting their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.

A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, this free event is a chance for people to enjoy the birds in their neighborhoods and, at the same time, make an contribution to conservation by helping scientists understand bird population trends.

"The Great Backyard Bird Count benefits both birds and people. It's a great example of citizen science," said Audubon Education Vice President Judy Braus. "Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to protect birds and biodiversity."

Anyone can take part, from novice bird watchers to experts, by counting birds for as little as 15 minutes or as long as they wish on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings online.

Blue jay in Skagit County, Washington (Photo by Crappy Wildlife Photography)

Participants also can explore what birds others are finding in their backyards anywhere in North America. Additional online resources include tips to help identify birds, a photo gallery, and special materials for educators.

The efforts of these citizen scientists enable everyone to see what would otherwise be impossible - a comprehensive picture of where birds are in late winter and how their numbers and distribution compare with previous years.

In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000 checklists.

"The Great Backyard Bird Count has become a vital link in the arsenal of continent-wide bird-monitoring projects," said Cornell Lab of Ornithology director, John Fitzpatrick.

"With more than a decade of data now in hand, the Great Backyard Bird Count has documented the fine-grained details of late-winter bird distributions better than any project in history, including some truly striking changes just over the past decade," he said.

Each year, in addition to entering their tallies, participants submit thousands of digital images for the Great Backyard Bird Count photo contest. Many are featured in the popular online gallery.

Participants in the 2009 count are also invited to upload their bird videos to YouTube; some will also be featured on the Great Backyard Bird Count website. Visit www.birdcount.org to learn more.

Wild Birds Unlimited has been a major sponsor of the Great Backyard Bird Count for the past 10 years. The backyard bird feeding and nature specialty store franchise also has donated prizes for photo contest winners. Wild Birds Unlimited encourages everyone, especially families, to participate as a means of connecting with nature.

In addition, this year, starting on Saturday, February 7, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society are asking for observations of just one bird species - the North American rusty blackbird.

The population of North American rusty blackbirds has plummeted an estimated 85 to 99 percent over the past 40 years. Although the exact cause for this decline is not clear, loss of habitat is one possibility. There is no monitoring program in place for this species.

To learn more about how many birds are left, and where they are, volunteers are needed for the Rusty Blackbird Blitz taking place February 7 through 15. Participants may look for "rusties" anywhere they like, as many times as they like during the nine-day blitz, then report sightings via the eBird program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Rusty blackbird (Photo by eBird)

The blitz is being coordinated by the International Rusty Blackbird Technical Working Group at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center along with the Cornell Lab and Audubon.

"Data gathered will be used to create a map of wintering rusty blackbird hot spots that will help focus research, monitoring, and conservation efforts," said eBird co-leader Brian Sullivan. "We're looking for the number of birds seen at each location, and some basic habitat information."

The focus of the blitz is on states that are known to be part of the Rusty Blackbird's winter range - Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, east Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Unlike other species of blackbirds, the rusty blackbird inhabits boreal wetlands of the far north during the breeding season and spends its winters in bottomland wooded wetlands, primarily in American midwestern and southeastern states.

Rusty blackbirds have pale "staring" eyes. In February, males will appear mostly black and females will have rusty edges to the wings and body.

Two other species are more common and are sometimes mistaken for the rusty. The common grackle is larger with a long tail and larger bill. The female red-winged blackbird also resembles the rusty but can be distinguished by bold streaking on its underparts, whereas the rusty blackbird has plain underparts without streaks.

Rusty blackbird sightings can be reported on the eBird website at: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

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