Birdwatchers' Alert

On Friday of this week, Feb. 13, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) for 2009 begins. It lasts for four days, through Monday, Feb. 16. The details are available here: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html. (Sorry. I'll try again later to make the link work.)

This annual project is a joint effort by the Audobon Society and the Ornithology Lab at Cornell University--a school known far and wide for outstanding research on birds.

Here's a quick rundown of what is required:

1) Keep watch for birds in one specific location for at least 15 minutes and record the highest number of individuals of each species you see at one time during that interval. You can watch for much longer than this, but don't count any group that is smaller than what you've already counted. Example: You see three groups of Goldfinches. One has eight; one has seven; and one has four. You will report only the group that has eight.

2) You may count birds at various locations, but each location must be reported separately.

3) You may report data from the same location on all four days if you wish. Just remember to send in the count only for the largest group of individuals.

4) Report all your data accurately on the website.

I suggest you print out one copy of the reporting form. That way your observation effort will certainly be directed toward the things you will need to report.

Have fun making your contribution to natural science research!