The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Families, individuals, school children, community groups, everyone with an interest in birds, are asked to count the numbers and kinds they see during the seventh annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), taking place February 13 through 16, 2004. The event will create a continent wide snapshot of which bird species are where and in what numbers, information critical to monitoring the health of their populations. Developed and managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, with sponsorship in part from Wild Birds Unlimited stores and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a division of the USDA), the GBBC will help researchers understand the status of the birds that people all over North America so enjoy. Participants simply keep track of the birds they see on any or all of the count days, then log their sightings into the BirdSource database: www.birdsource.org/gbbc. "Because the event is Internet-based, researchers and participants alike can see which birds are being reported where, all across the continent. The near-instant availability of results allows participants to see quickly how their reports contribute to the continent wide perspective," says John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "It's extremely satisfying to see that your observation is significant. These individual observations are critical to building a broad scale database of North American bird populations, and the GBBC is the only count that provides a late-winter perspective." In addition to speedy results and easy-to-follow instructions, the GBBC web site is packed full of information about birds. This year's count encourages participants to become more bird-friendly in their day-to-day lives, everything from getting their families interested in birds to creating bird habitat in their backyards. "Backyards are an important way to create green ways for birds between parks and wild areas," says Frank Gill, Audubons director of science. "They allow for the cultivation of native plants and provide essential sanctuary to migratory and resident birds. Participating in projects such as the Great Backyard Bird Count gives people a first-hand view of how important bird-friendly backyards are to many bird species."
