Birds of a Feather Watch Together: This Weekend is Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

(KNSI) – For bird lovers, this weekend is the big game.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society have been doing the Great Backyard Bird Count since 1998. It is considered a community science project. It runs from Friday through Monday and can be completed in as little as 15 minutes.

You can set up in your own backyard, at a cabin, or a local park. It’s available for novice bird watchers or enthusiasts. The event’s website recommends using the Merlin Bird ID app if you need help logging what you hear or see.

There are checklists available broken down by county, showing what species of birds you can expect to observe in the wintertime at your specific location. The bird count is looking for input from across the globe, and many communities will host a large event where you can socialize and meet other people with similar interests.

The site currently lists a gathering on Saturday in Bemidji. The Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society is holding a Walk on the Wild Side at the Neilson Spearhead Center. The Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center in Lake Elmo will have activities each day. More events are being added throughout the weekend.

Another unique thing about the Great Backyard Bird Count is the ability to watch results be displayed in real time. Across the world, 4,753 species have been observed already in 2024. As of 10:46 a.m. local time on Friday, over 32,400 observations had been logged.

Last year, better than 200 countries had a report filed. Roughly 2/3 of the world’s known species were seen by participants in just one weekend.

A link to more information and instructions on how to contribute your own count is here.

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