General Questions
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Bird populations are constantly changing. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to keep track of the complicated patterns of movement of species around the world. The information from GBBC participants, combined with other surveys, helps scientists learn how birds are affected by environmental changes.
The information you send in can provide the first sign that individual species may be increasing or declining from year to year. Data gathered over many years help highlight how a species’ range may be expanding or shrinking. A big change, noted consistently over a period of years, is an indication that something is happening in the environment that is affecting the birds and that should be followed up on. GBBC information also allows us to look at what kinds of birds inhabit different areas, such as cities versus suburbs.
All the information from the GBBC will be accessible through the website and also becomes part of a massive bird observation database called the Avian Knowledge Network. AKN now holds more than 106 million bird observations from 51 partner organizations which are used by scientists around the world.
The GBBC gives us a snapshot of how birds are surviving the winter and where they are located just before spring migrations begin in March. Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, Bird Studies Canada, and elsewhere can combine this information with data from surveys conducted at different times of the year.
The reason we get such great information from the GBBC is that so many people participate. Because the GBBC is a short 4-day project, most people feel comfortable making a commitment to take part on one or more of those days. If you’d like to do more, keep using your new eBird account to report sightings anywhere, anytime or check out other citizen-science projects offered through the National Audubon Society the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.
If you’re interested in helping spread the word about the GBBC, you can become one of our special GBBC ambassadors. Your contribution may be as simple as printing and distributing the GBBC poster in your area. (You will be able to download the flyer from the GBBC website when it is available for the next count.) Or you can do more, by printing the news release from the website and sending it to your local paper, bird club, library, birding store, and other locations. Media ambassadors consent to be interviewed for local stories about the project. Some people give presentations on how to do the GBBC with the help of the PowerPoint slide program we provide on this website. Each year, ambassadors coordinate GBBC events at nature centers, senior centers, and other locations.
It isn’t easy—each year GBBC participants submit thousands of images! We post a selection of images in the GBBC photo gallery. After the event, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada begin the months-long process of sorting through each and every photo, rating them based on artistic merit and technical skill—such as focus, lighting, composition, color, and degree of effort required to obtain the shot. Judges from the three organizations make their final selections in six categories, including best overall, best composition, most interesting behavior, best group shot, and best habitat shot. The results are announced before the next GBBC, and prizes awarded. See photo contest rules.
Many excellent field guides are available in book stores. Some people find it easier to identify birds using photographs. Others prefer an artist’s drawing. Be sure whatever guide you choose includes a range map for each species so you know whether or not you’re likely to see a bird in your area. You can choose a guide to all the birds of North America or one that is limited to your geographic region or even your state. The free online bird guide on the All About Birds web site has descriptions of hundreds of species, with photos and sound recordings that will also help you identify birds. There are many field guides available for birds native to other regions around the world.
If you entered an email address when you participated in the past, and it has not changed, then you will get a couple of reminders about the upcoming GBBC along with eNewsletters that are distributed from October through March.
