Photo: Tufted Titmouse and Carolina Chickadee, Gary Mueller/Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count provides a snapshot of where birds are in real time.  It’s spontaneous; unlike Project FeederWatch, you’re not restricted to your own backyard or to a particular feeding area, and there is no commitment to 2 specific days every week for 5 months.  You can count anywhere during the 4 count days for as little as 15 minutes or as long as a walk through a park.  

Bird enthusiasts of all ages count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are ranging. Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Now, in its 23rd year, more than 160,000 people of all ages and walks of life worldwide join the count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds. Join in and contribute to bird conservation.