2016 Great Backyard Bird Count Runs Worldwide Feb. 12 Through Feb. 15

Summary: The 2016 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs for four days from midnight, local time, worldwide on Feb. 12 through Feb. 15.

19th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count promotional poster, featuring white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) photo by Nick Saunders: Nick Saunders/GBBC via Great Backyard Bird Count promo poster

The 2016 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from Friday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 15, asks for a minimum commitment of 15 minutes on one or more of the 19th annual event’s four days, and accepts sighting tallies online at gbbc.birdcount.org.

The 2016 Great Backyard Bird Count begins at midnight, local time, on Friday, Feb. 12, anywhere in the world. Participants in the Great Backyard Bird Count choose where they want to conduct their counts. Any location where birds are found -- from backyards to parks or wildlife refuges to urban settings -- qualifies.

The count site provides helpful, location-specific species checklists for participants’ intended bird count locales. The bird list tool for Canada and the United States is generated by postal code, town and state or province, or national land (forest, park, refuge, reserve, etc.).

Bird lists are also generated for global locations by another tool, Avibase’s Bird Checklists of the World. Hosted by Bird Studies Canada, Avibase’s Bird Checklists of the World is an extensive database system, with over one million records on approximately 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds.

The count calls for separate tallies for each day and for each location. A separate tally needs to be entered for revisits to the same location at different times on the same day. The snapshot that emerges from participants’ tallies reveals daily and site-specific activities of local bird populations.

The Great Backyard Bird Count takes place in February because early counts, held only in Canada and the United States, aimed to identify species’ ranges prior to spring migrations in March. Since 2013, the Great Backyard Bird Count is a global event for pinpointing where birds are, throughout the world, in early February.

Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society refer to participants’ inputs for such valuable bird status information as declining or increasing populations and expanding or shrinking ranges. The Great Backyard Bird Count also indicates which species are inhabiting different habitats, such as manmade (cities, suburbs) and natural. Sightings of species that are rare or that are rare to a particular place are especially valuable for revealing the actual status of global bird populations.

As with previous backyard bird counts, the 2016 Backyard Bird Count serves as an easy, enjoyable event that informs participants as well as bird lovers and researchers.

“This count is so fun because anyone can take part  -- we all learn and watch birds together -- whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher,” says Gary Langham, chief scientist at the National Audubon Society. “I like to invite new birders to join me and share the experience. Get involved, invite your friends, and see how your favorite spot stacks up.”

The 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count included a report of hearing a Santa Marta screech owl, which has not yet been described as a new species in the scientific literature: Sue Bryan @SueBryan2 via Twitter Sept. 7, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

19th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count promotional poster, featuring white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) photo by Nick Saunders: Nick Saunders/GBBC via Great Backyard Bird Count promo poster @ http://gbbc.birdcount.org/news/poster/

The 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count included a report of hearing a Santa Marta screech owl, which has not yet been described as a new species in the scientific literature: Sue Bryan ‏@SueBryan2 via Twitter Sept. 7, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/SueBryan2/status/641064259783409665

For further information:

“About the Great Backyard Bird Count.” Audubon > Content.
Available @ http://www.audubon.org/content/about-great-backyard-bird-count

“Great Backyard Bird Count Feb. 13-15.” Journal Star.com>Niche>Neighborhood Extra>Home and Garden. February 1, 2016.
Available @ http://journalstar.com/niche/neighborhood-extra/lawn-and-garden/great-backyard-bird-count-feb/article_92df4a70-d430-526c-a012-03610c1c761b.html

"Great Backyard Bird Count Sets New Species Record." The Great Backyard Bird Count > 2015 GBBC Summary.
Available @ http://gbbc.birdcount.org/2015-gbbc-summary/

Sue Bryan ‏@SueBryan2. "We saw Santa Marta Screech Owl, an undescribed species to Science today in Colombia." Twitter. Sept. 7, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SueBryan2/status/641064259783409665

Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc. "The Great Backyard Bird Count." YouTube. Jan. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ulsfnSjlw