Dear Great
Backyard Bird Count participant,
Your chance
to take part in the eleventh Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) comes up
in a few short weeks. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to have
fun and help us find out where the birds are this winter. Read on for
new and exciting features of this year’s event.
What’s new this year?
Check out
the GBBC website (www.birdcount.org)
for improved features, including:
Spread the Word
We hope you'll spread the word this year by encouraging your friends to
participate. You can forward this email to them or direct them to visit
the website at
www.birdcount.org. Remember: the
GBBC is fun, free, and helps birds!
Win something cool
When you send in your checklist this year, you will automatically be
entered in a prize drawing to win items like binoculars, bird feeders,
and a variety of great books! Check out
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/press/news-stories/prize-list-for-2008
for a listing of prizes.
Submit Photos to our Online Gallery and photo contest
During the count, take digital photos of birds (and bird watchers!) and
submit them to the GBBC website. All photos submitted will be entered in
the photo contest, and some will be posted in an online gallery. Images
will be accepted through March 1.
Your counting counts
In 2007, GBBC participants made history, breaking records for the number
of birds reported and number of checklists submitted. Participants sent
in more than 80,000 checklists tallying over 11 million birds of 613
species. Last year, as a result of your counts, we discovered that many
bird species had already started their spring migrations in
February—earlier than in decades past. Your counts help us build a
long-term record of where people are finding birds and how many birds
there are. Although your bird counts need to take place from February
15-18, you can submit data as late as March 1, 2008. If you have
any questions, please contact us at
citizenscience@audubon.org or
cornellbirds@cornell.edu.
Remember,
count for fun, count for the future! We can’t wait to see what you
discover this year.
Sincerely,
Janis
Dickinson, Director of Citizen Science, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Rob Fergus,
Senior Scientist, National Audubon Society
Melissa
Hopkins, Education Associate, National Audubon Society
