ODL@Home- The Great Backyard Bird Count

Help scientists from home by participating in The Great Backyard Bird Count

Outdoor Lab staff have participated in such events and documented a large variety of bird species at the Outdoor Lab.  Director Emeritus Neil Heinekamp inspired generations of APS students with his bird identification expertise.  His legacy continues, with current staff staff helping students identify birds by sight and sound.  Now you can help scientists from your own backyard!  Show us your favorite backyard birds. #GBBC #LovetheODL

From Audubon.org:

The 26th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 17, through Monday, February 20, 2023.

Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources.

  • The  GBBC is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations.
  • Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org.
  • Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.

Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the  National Audubon SocietyCornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Recently, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

Bird ID Resources

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has also created an App called Merlin Bird ID to identify the birds you see or hear.  It can help with the GBBC or anytime you’re out in nature observing birds.