Project FeederWatch
Project FeederWatch is a winter long survey of birds that visit feeders throughout North America. It began in the 1970’s as the Ontario Feeder Bird Survey. In 1987, the project expanded into an international survey managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada. Today, it is a cooperative research and education project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Studies Canada, the National Audubon Society, and the Canadian Nature Federation.
The main goal of Project FeederWatch is to marry the interests of backyard birdwatchers with those of ornithologists who study bird populations. By making simple standardized counts of the birds in their yards and reporting them to the FeederWatch database, FeederWatchers help scientists track broad scale movements of winter bird populations and long term trends in bird distribution and abundance.
Anyone with a feeder and a small knowledge of birds can participate. Just sign up on their website and for a cost of just $15 you will receive a handbook, tally sheets, a calendar and a subscription to their newsletter. Just a couple of hours on two consecutive days once every two weeks is all it takes to count. It’s a great way to spend the morning with a cup of coffee or the afternoon with some tea. The project runs from November to early April.
