February 15-18, 2008 marks the Great Backyard Bird Count – 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. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.
And if you want help learning how to count… check out Wildlife Counts, a training program for estimating flocking bird population sizes. They say, “Gone are the days when biologists dropped handfuls of rice or beans on a table to simulate animal groups.” Interested? They have a free trial for use by professional or amateur bird watchers.
Also from the site, “Superior computer graphics resulting in screen images that are often difficult to distinguish from pictures”….. l was looking for a graphic for this post and came up with an image from Wildlife Counts that l thought was REALLY a photo of geese.
On a similar note: Since Christmas Day, 1900 (which is technically still the 19th century BCE), the idea for a Christmas Bird Count was introduced thanks to the inspiration of Frank M. Chapman, a innovative conservator and an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society. With the enthusiasm of twenty-seven dedicated birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day.
Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birders. The purpose is to provide population data for use in science, especially conservation biology, though many people participate for recreation.
This year, despite challenging weather conditions, the 108th CBC is now heading toward the record books.
From the Audubon official site:
The primary objective of the Christmas Bird Count is to monitor the status and distribution of bird populations across the Western Hemisphere. The information is also vital for conservation. For example, local trends in bird populations can indicate habitat fragmentation or signal an immediate environmental threat, such as groundwater contamination or poisoning from improper use of pesticides.