The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It's free, fun, and easy-and it helps the birds."

Personal tools

 

Sponsors
Wild Birds Unlimited

Cornell Information Technologies

National Resources Conservation Service

National Science Foundation

 

 

eBird

Report Your Bird Sightings Year-Round

The Great Backyard Bird Count ends after four days, but your own bird counts don’t have to. Keep counting for the birds by reporting your observations year-round to eBird!

www.eBird.org

Like the GBBC, eBird is an online program that gathers bird observations into a database. But with eBird, the counting keeps going. eBird lets you and your family keep detailed lists of your own sightings, create an individualized menu of your favorite birding spots, and much more.

 

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Log on to eBird and tell us:

  1. Where you birded

  2. When you birded

  3. How many of each
    species you saw   
                                                  

eBIRD IS THE SAME, ONLY DIFFERENT

If you submitted checklists during the 2013 GBBC, then you are already familiar with the eBird checklist entry process. Entering records for eBird is just as easy and uses the exact same interface. Give it a try today and you may find eBird addicting! Watch your lists grow on the My eBird page and check out the Explore Data page to see your observations combined with those of thousands of other eBirders.

eBird is exactly like the GBBC, only it is a year-round project. If you enjoyed the GBBC, commit to using eBird year round. Whether you chose to enter lists every day or only on weekends, every piece of information is valuable and helps contribute to the eBird database.

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Common Redpolls are one of the "winter finches," absent in some years but seemingly everywhere across the northern states and southern provinces in others. Your observations can help scientists understand why they make these movements. The winter of 2012-2013 is a finch "superflight," with both Hoary and Common redpolls moving south in very high numbers along with other finches like Pine Siskin, Evening Grosbeak, White-winged and Red crossbills, and others.

Common Redpoll photo by Susan Drury, Yukon, 2010 GBBC.

These are some of the questions you can answer using eBird: 

Is a bird you just identified is unusual in your area? eBird lets you create a  map of where this species has been reported, showing you if other people in your area are seeing it, too.

Did crow numbers decline in your state after West Nile Virus appeared? eBird can create a graph of how crow numbers may be changing in your area.

What birds might you see at a particular location? eBird can create a bird list for any location in the United States and Canada based on actual reports.

Is the large flock of robins you've been seeing in your front yard over the winter typical? eBird lets you track where robins and other bird species are being reported and in what numbers.

Fourth People 
 Photo by Sarah Eagar, California, 2010 GBBC

GET YOUR FAMILY INVOLVED

eBird is a great way to preserve your memories of birding as a family or a group. Unlike paper checklists, the observations you submit are preserved and accessible by you and others for all time. When did you take that family trip to the Everglades, and what did you see? eBird lets you check. More good reasons to get your family or community group involved:

  • You can "adopt" your favorite natural places–a local park, a school, the grandparents' home, even your own home. Set up regular visits weekly or monthly to this special place and input your sightings into eBird. The more reports you provide, the more you–and researchers–will discover about the birds that live there.                    

  • Getting your kids interested in eBird is a healthy pastime. The Internet elements and map-making capabilities offer the immediacy of a computer game. The regular features at eBird offer great opportunities for your kids to learn about the birds they see, or that they perhaps dream of one day seeing.

  • When family or group members take turns entering eBird reports, they take active responsibility for stewardship of the earth, something especially important for kids, the future caretakers of our planet. The more sightings they enter, the more invested they feel in the environment.
 

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Start eBirding today!