Chesterton Tribune                                                                                   Adv.

Great Backyard Bird Count only weeks away

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You don’t need to be a scientist to do real science.

You just need a pencil, a scratch pad, and 15 minutes sometime between Feb. 15-18.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon are once again sponsoring the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), now in its 11th year, and are looking for birders across North America to take a real-time snapshot of where the birds are.

The theme for this year’s edition of the GBBC: Count for fun, count for the future.

Anyone can count birds wherever they are during the GBBC and enter their tallies on line at www.birdcount.org. No fees to pay, no need to register. Just count and report.

Data collected during the GBBC contribute valuable information both for science and for conservation, spotlighting changes in bird populations and distributions from year to year. Previous Great Backyard Bird Counts have shown, for instance, how species like the Eurasian Collared Dove and the Red-bellied Woodpecker are spreading into new areas, as swell as how species like the American Crow and the Northern Pintail are in decline.

Participating in the GBBC is easy, and you don’t even need to know a great deal about birds as helpful identification tips can be found at www.birdcount.org. Participants simply watch birds for as few as 15 minutes on one or more days of the event, counting in their own backyards, in city parks, in nature centers, or wherever they like. Then enter the highest number of each species seen at one time on the GBBC website.

While they’re at the website, participants can explore maps and charts showing what others are reporting in their area or across the country. They can also see winning photographs from the 2007 photo contest and get inspired to send their own digital photos to the 2008 GBBC. Every photo submitted is considered for the contest.

In addition to digital photos, you can also shoot video of birds or birders during the GBBC. Upload your video to YouTube and tag it “Great Backyard Bird Count.” Some of the best clips will be posted on the GBBC website.

The GBBC is a free event, sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited. Everyone who participates will be entered in a drawing to win bird-related prizes. For more information visit www.birdcount.org

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a nonprofit membership institution interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological diversity through the research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.

Audubon is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitats which support them. “Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in conservation.”

 

Posted 1/18/2008

 

 

 

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