It's almost time for another season of Project FeederWatch! November 8, 2008 is the start of the winter-long survey. Being a Citizen Scientist is a lot easier and more rewarding than you might think. This is a joint venture of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Studies Canada, the National Audubon Society and the Canadian Nature Federation and it's a great way to contribute to the birds that you love and enjoy so much!
All that you have to do is sign up here:https://secure.birds.cornell.edu/eCommerce/FeederWatch/Start.do, wait for the packet to come to you in the mail and then start counting and reporting! There is a $15 dollar participation fee, but you not only get membership into the program but you also get a Research Kit, which contains instructions, a bird identification poster, a wall calendar, a resource guide to bird feeding, and data forms! Not only do you get these items but you are TRULY helping with the conservation and protection efforts that go on year round! You just need to sit back, relax and count some of your backyard friends.
It really is a great program and I would love to see a bunch of new participants this year! Here is a good page to start on: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Overview/over_index.html It will answer a lot of the questions you have, but the entire site is full of other information and a ton of photos.
Here's a neat link. You can explore all sorts of data that has been collected over the years.
http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/PFW/ExploreData?cmd=stateReport
With this link you can look at all the Rare Bird reports (and accompanying photos) from over the project's lifetime. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/DataRetrieval/rare_index.html
This link will show you the Top 25 Feeder Birds (with ranking number) from over the years. You can see how some birds have become much more popular while others have declined over time. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/DataRetrieval/top25_index.html
This link will take you to all of the photos from birders around the Continent!
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Members/FeaturedPhotos/FeaturedPhotoIndex.htm
And here is the link to their Home Page
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/index.html
7 comments:
This will be my fourth year participating. I really look forward to it each year. I hate being cooped up in the winter, and this gives me a reason to be focused on the out-of-doors and the bird visitors who enjoy my winter feeders.
I think I might sign up for the first time. I will blog about it if I do. Sounds fun!
You have such beautiful bird photos! I love the one of the Northern Flicker - a really neat bird, one I'm proud to say we have here. But, I haven't seen one yet for the Oct. GBC. This sounds like a great survey. There's also a Christmas bird count that I think I'm going to participate in this year.
Great photos and that one with all the color is so beautiful.
I don't feed the birds much anymore, because the squirrels ruined my yard and I obtained two new cats. I still put feed out in the front yard here and there.
thanks for your visit.
I'm doing it for the first time, too! Already paid my monies and am just waiting for the forms! What fun. I hope we all keep our counts on sidebars like we've been doing for the Nutty October Count.
I blogged about this the other day...I hope it helps. I really like all the links Michelle and Seth included; good idea to show folks how valuable data can be!
One last thing: I just noticed you're up to THIRTY birds, too; WOW...you guys are doing well!
This is a great post for PFW..I am very excited to get started. And you have 30 birds for the hunt?
I have participated in Project Feeder Watch a couple of times and always enjoyed taking part. It made my birdwatching a bit more special when I glued myself to the windows on those two watch days each week :-). Good luck with your count this year.
Your bird photos are beautiful!
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