Grab the Bird Seed and Become a Community Scientist!

Winter Backyard Bird Counts

Do you have feeders in your backyard? Learn how you and your feeder birds can contribute to science!

The Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 18-21, 2022

A 4-day event coordinated by National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Great Backyard Bird Count invites people all over the world to record their bird observations for just 15 minutes in their own backyard! All ages and birding levels are welcome to participate, and you can participate on any or all of the four days of this international birding event! This year, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will be held on Friday, February 18th through Monday, February 21st.

You can submit your backyard observations online here.

Last year, over 160,000 people participated in the GBBC globally, and provided scientists with the largest international snapshot of bird populations ever recorded! Please visit the GBBC website at gbbc.birdcount.org for more information on how you can participate. If you have any questions about how you can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, please contact our Research Coordinator at alandgraf@detroitaudubon.org or at 313-800-1578.

Project FeederWatch

Are you interested in becoming a Community Scientist? Are you a teacher looking to engage your students in a Citizen Science project? Or someone looking for a gift for your bird-loving friends or family-members? Project FeederWatch is organized by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. A Community Science project, much like the Christmas Bird Count, Project FeederWatch encourages people to put up a bird feeder in their yard and periodically count the birds they see at their feeder. This is a winter-long survey, beginning as early as November through early April. Data is sent to Project FeederWatch to join a larger database that can help scientists track the movements of wintering birds over a large geographic range as well as trends in bird distribution and abundance.

Are you interested in participating? Here’s what you need to know!

All age levels and birding skill levels are welcome!
You can monitor your bird feeder as frequently or infrequently as you’d like; you create your schedule.
Materials you will need: bird feeder, bird bath, or bird-enticing plants.
There is an annual participation fee of $18 which goes towards materials (your Research Kit), staff support, web design, data analysis and the year-end report.
Your Research Kit will include a welcome letter, a FeederWatch Handbook and Instructions, a full-color poster of common feeder birds, and a bird watching calendar, to help you keep track of your FeederWatch days.

To participate in Project FeederWatch, you can register online here.

If you have any questions about how to participate in FeederWatch, please contact our Research Coordinator, Ava Landgraf at alandgraf@detroitaudubon.org or 313-800-1578.