The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a four-day event that takes place annually in February, with this year’s count will take place from Feb. 14-17. The GBBC began in 1998, and since then citizen-scientists have been watching, learning about, counting, and celebrating birds. As we know, birds are everywhere all the time doing fascinating things. Their behavior is interesting and amazing.

Counting and watching birds is still one of the safest and most rewarding activities we can do because we can bird from home, or we can go to our favorite birding spot on our own. Participation is free. We are just asked to commit to counting birds for as little as 15 minutes, or longer on at least one of the four days of the count. However, you can also do more. All four days will provide a great experience. You may even notice more birds in your backyard than ever before. Participating is easy, fun to do alone or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.

The website www.birdcount.org outlines three easy steps to participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.

Step 2: Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, Feb. 14-17.

Step 3: Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:

If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to indicate what birds you are seeing or hearing.

If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website using a desktop or laptop.

In 2024, birdcount.org reported the United States had the most checklists with 212,673, identifying 676 species. The top three states were California, Texas and Florida. Each of these three increased their submissions compared to 2024. India came in next with 65,111 submissions, 1,039 species and a huge increase in GBBC participation. Canada came in third with 31,151 eBird checklists and over 14,000 Merlin sightings. The number of species across Canada reported was 261.

The purpose of the count is to help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations. “Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was the first online citizen science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time,” according to birdcount.org.

The summary from the four-day event in 2024 is as follows:

In a snapshot:

• 7,920 species of birds identified;

• 210 participating countries;

• 384,416 eBird checklists;

• 313,874 Merlin Bird IDs;

• 164,740 photos added to Macaulay Library;

• 642,003 estimated global participants.

You can learn more about the count in your backyard or neighborhood by going to the website www.birdcount.org. The Great Backyard Bird Count is an international partnership between the Cornell Lab, Audubon and Birds Canada. So, dust off your binoculars and/or fill up your bird feeders. Get ready for this exciting and valuable bird count event. Happy birding!