Project Feederwatch Starting Soon

 

Feederwatch Crowd

One of my favorite thing to do in the winter is participating in Project Feederwatch. This is a study of bird populations sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. According to the Project Feederwatch website, this will be my 27th season.

My primary reason for taking part is that I like to watch the birds. I feed them regardless, so why not provide information that can help up learn more about them? The picture at the left is one from my backyard a couple of years ago during a particularly harsh bit of weather. The interesting thing, although you can't see it without enlarging the picture, is that there are some yellow-headed blackbirds in this photo. I had never seen yellow-headed blackbirds in the winter here--I thought they were a migrant that passed through in spring and fall. Apparently, a few do hang around (or at least, did that winter).

Last winter was particularly disappointing. I didn't have many birds at all-neither in numbers of species or in numbers of individuals. Some of the other local people who participate mentioned they were having a disappointing season as well. I chalked it up to a relatively mild winter. However, recently I received the newsletter for the project summarizing some of the data from last year, and we were not alone. Last year was a bad year for every one--in fact the numbers of individual birds seen was down significantly everywhere.

Chart from Sep 12 Feederwatch blog

You might find the possible reasons for these low numbers interesting. Check out the blog post. However, bird populations are declining everywhere. The link takes you to the Cornell Lab's page highlighting a study showing that nearly 3B birds have disappeared since 1970. This is not good news for us. Another reason to do what you can to provide habitat for all species, not just birds.

The Project Feederwatch starts November 1 and runs through April 30. If you want to take part, there is a small charge. If you are a member of the Lab, the cost is $18. It is a few dollars more for those who are not. If you are new to the project or don't know your birds very well, Cornell will send you a poster of common birds.  It's also a good idea to have access to a field guide. Here's the link to sign up.

I hope you'll take part. This is a good project to do with kids as well. They learn more about birds and about the scientific method.

Good Birding!