Tens
of thousands of people will be outside (or looking through
their windows), counting birds. February 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 in 2010, and have fun as you learn
more about the birds around you. |
