Do you have a yard? Do you see birds in it? Do you feed them? If so, please check out Project FeederWatch, sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
This citizen science project is more than 30 years old. Thousands of feeder watchers count birds every year from November through April. You can count at times that work for you. You may see a species you’ve never seen before, like the beautiful Eastern towhee, or observe new behavior from a species you’ve seen many times, like the Carolina chickadee.
Participants receive a research kit and instructions for how to count. From FeederWatch data, scientists determine the winter ranges of bird species and the abundances of bird species over time.
For more information, go to feederwatch.org.