You’re invited!
Join me and other folks this weekend for the 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).
People come together for four days for a global bird count from February 16, 2024 to February 19, 2024 to watch and count as many birds as they can and report them online.
Which you can do in your own backyard or neighborhood.
Or nearby park, forest, or wetland.
Or public school, college campus, downtown area—any public space where birds can be seen or heard.
For folks in southeast Michigan, it’s an opportunity to get outside on sunny or partly sunny days, without rain or snow showers.
And two of the four days are forecast to be sunny and over 40 degrees Farenheit!
That’s a win for us in mid-February.
What to Know About the Great Backyard Bird Count
Organized by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada, this year’s GBBC is a four-day event on February 16 to 19, 2024.
In your backyard or favorite place to watch birds, spend at least 15 minutes to watch, count, and submit the birds you see or hear.
How to Participate
- Pick a location to watch birds
- Watch birds you see or hear for at least 15 minutes on one of the four days
- Identify all the birds and submit your bird sightings online
Need help to identify birds?
You have lots of options! If you have your own bird guide books, great! If you don’t, you can borrow some from your local library.
My favorite birding resources I use daily:
- All About Birds website from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Free Merlin app with photos, sounds, and maps
Two features I love about the Merlin app are the Photo ID and Sound ID.
See a bird in your backyard and you’re not sure what it is? Take a photo and Merlin’s Photo ID will offer suggestions on what it could be.
If you hear a bird call, record it, and Merlin’s Sound ID offers real-time suggestions for what the bird might be.
Don’t worry if you don’t have an Internet connection; both Sound ID and Photo ID work offline.
Note: according to the Merlin website, as of February 2024, Sound ID is available in
US, Canada, Europe, with some common birds of Central and South America, and India. More species and regions coming soon
To submit the birds you’ve seen, use the eBird website or free eBird mobile app.
Want to learn more about The Great Backyard Bird Count? Watch the one-hour video.
Summary
I hope you join me this weekend to celebrate, count, and learn about birds. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a fun and free activity you can do on your own or with family and friends.
For folks who participate, I’d love to know what birds you hear or see. And if you use Merlin to identify the birds. Share your experience in the comments.
