Everyone is invited to the bird-counting party! The annual Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up Feb. 17-20

A Steller's sea eagle was spotted in Maine
during the 2022 Great Backyard Bird Count.

The 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be held Friday, Feb. 17, through Monday, Feb. 20.

How? For as little as 15 minutes, perch yourself and participate in this free, fun and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations.

Participants are asked to count birds on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world. Count birds for 15 minutes or as long as you want.

Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the  National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Recently, more than 300,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

Visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources. On the program website participants can explore real-time maps that show what others are reporting during and after the count.

Birds can surprise us! During the 2022 GBBC more than 300,000 snow geese turned up in Missouri. A surprise sighting of a Steller’s sea eagle was a rare treat in 2022 for Maine residents. This large, distinctly marked raptor is a regular resident of coastal regions in Japan, North and South Korea, Mongolia and parts of Russia during breeding season. For more on the results of the latest GBBC, take a look at the GBBC results.

"This count is so fun because anyone can take part — whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher. I enjoy discovering the birds that occur in my own back yard and on my block and then comparing with others. Get involved and see how your favorite spot stacks up."  —Chad Wilsey, vice president and chief scientist of Audubon