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One, two, three, or four days. Fifteen minutes. As many birds as you can see. So many numbers, all in the name of conservation.
Yep, it鈥檚 that time again, time for the annual , a joint project of , , and , and鈥攊f years past are any indication鈥攁 citizen-science effort worthy of its name.
[If you鈥檙e on Twitter writing about or live-tweeting your Great Backyard Bird Count experience, use the hashtag #GBBC.]
Starting on Friday, Feb. 17 and running through Monday, Feb. 20, pick up your binoculars and guidebook and get counting鈥攆or a few as 15 minutes. No commitment necessary, here. 鈥淐ount birds in as many places and on as many days as you like,鈥 according to the GBBC instructions. 鈥淪ubmit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in [more than one] location.鈥 for info on how to enter your data.
Before you start, make sure you know which type of counting you鈥檙e doing. Here are your options, from the GBBC site:
1. Stationary Count: This is a count made in one area, such as your backyard, where you remain in one place. In this case, report the highest number of each species seen together at one time.
2. Traveling Count: This is a count made over a distance, such as birding on a trail. In this case, count new birds of each species as you move along, but only if you can be relatively certain you did not count them previously. Add the numbers for each species at the end of your walk.
Last year, spotters counted a whopping 11,347,308 of 574 different species. Wow! The top 10 by individuals counted included:
1. European starling, 1,378,210
2. American robin, 1,044,654
3. Common grackle, 943,262
4. Canada goose, 730,441
5. Red-winged blackbird, 554,034
6. Snow goose, 538,023
7. American crow, 314,411
8. American goldfinch, 303,654
9. Dark-eyed junco, 276,963
10. Mallard, 254,130
What will come out on top this year? A few other 2011 GBBC trivia facts: New York submitted the most checklists but Texas spotted the most species.
Of course, the GBBC is about much more than seeing who can count the most birds (though that part does offer a certain, shall we say, motivation). It provides crucial data about bird trends. For example, that winter finches were moving south and that a Eurasian collared dove made it all the way to Alaska.
Birders also reported seeing more evening grosbeaks: 鈥淭he total number of observations for this species is the highest it has ever been during the GBBC, an increase that isn鈥檛 simply attributable to greater GBBC participation,鈥 . 鈥淎 closer look finds this upturn especially marked in the northwestern U.S. and in Canada. However, the evening grosbeak is also an irruptive species and this increase in reports may simply reflect that. We鈥檒l keep monitoring their numbers in future counts to see whether this is indicative of a long-term trend.鈥
The more people out there counting, the better chance we have of recording as many species as possible. So game on, birders, and good luck.