Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things. Join the global community, February 18–21, 2021, when the world comes together for the love of birds.
🐦 How to Participate
Participating is easy, fun to do alone, or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds. Simply watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 18-21, 2022, and tell us what you see!
Pick the best tool to use for sharing your bird sightings:
- If you are new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID app.
- If you have participated in the count before, try eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
- If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.
🐦 Be a Part of a Global Event
Watch observation lists roll in from around the world. Each submitted checklist becomes a glowing light on our bird sightings map.
Find out more about the Great Bird Count here.
🐦 7 things we've Learned by Feeding the birds*
While we love watching from our windows, we also use birdwatching as a fun way to get outside, get fresh air, and learn something new. It’s a great reason to head to your local park or take a walk around the neighborhood. You can even make it into a competition or scavenger hunt to keep the kids engaged! Who can find the most birds? Who can spy a chickadee first?
🐦 7 Fun Facts about Birds and Birdwatching*
- Diurnal (sleep at night) birds typically eat early in the morning and evening.
- Getting different-sized bird feeders encourages different types of birds.
- Sunflower seeds are popular with our birds but make a mess. You can purchase pre-shelled sunflower seeds, but they cost a little more.
- Mealworms seem to be a favorite of all of our birds. We add those to the seed we put out and watch them dig through the seed for the mealworms.
- The chickadee, thrasher, and woodpecker usually choose the bird feeder with dry fruit over the feeder with regular wild bird food.
- No matter how high we put the bird feeders on our windows, the squirrels still try to get food. While we do not mind feeding the squirrels – we actually enjoy watching them too – we do mind them hogging the bird feeders or knocking them down. We have found that squirrels do not like spicy foods, but it does not bother the birds. Adding a little capsaicin or hot peppers to the bird feeder can deter squirrels from taking over the feeders.
- Binoculars add to the bird-watching fun!
* Tips and Fun Facts are from Jenny Sites, publisher of Macaroni KID Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania-Stafford, Va.
