Count birds with Project Feederwatch

The habit of watching the feeder led to a rare
sighting of dozens of evening grosbeaks one
winter day.

I enjoy watching the great crested flycatchers and bluebirds cavort in the summer evenings. And I will admit to getting up before dawn this spring to play the dawn song on the boombox outside to attract purple martins. But it is during the long stretches of winter that my bird interest takes full flower. I believe it's because I am less preoccupied with growing things and can take more time to just observe my little bit of the natural world.

Last winter I participated in Project Feederwatch, a program sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's a volunteer program that you can participate in from the comfort of your own back yard or living room.

The purpose of the program is to gather data from thousands of citizen naturalists all over the country to track the broadscale movement of winter bird populations and long-term trends in the variety and number of birds.

Volunteers count the birds that appear at food sources they provide, such as a feeder, on two consecutive days from November through April. Counts can be submitted all winter long, but no more frequently than every five days. By counting the largest number of birds of each species to visit at any one time, volunteers avoid counting a bird twice. Data can be submitted online or on paper forms provided by Project Feederwatch.

Some volunteers use dry erase boards to keep counts, erasing numbers as larger and larger numbers of each species arrive at the feeders. I have a computer file with a list of the names of birds that I can usually count on visiting my feeders. For each count period I just print out the file and write down the number of birds I see, crossing off the lower number as higher numbers arrive.

It's not a time consuming activity unless you want it to be. Many people count for just 15 minutes before work for a couple of days here and there.

In my one winter of counting, I was able to observe groups of 28 mourning doves, dozens of evening grosbeaks in a single visit, thousands of red-winged blackbirds, 18 cardinals and 25 cowbirds and dozens of different types of birds. The discipline of watching over a specified period of time also meant that I saw birds that I ordinarily may have missed.

The cost to participate is just $15, which also gives you access to the online database of reports by other bird watchers.

You can sign up to participate in Project Feederwatch by clicking here.