Counting Birds

Over President's Day weekend, we participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2022.

We ventured a bit beyond our own backyard, and we were very glad that we did.

Here are some photos we took of the birds we saw!

Tips to Count Birds with Kids

It's fun to count birds with kids. Here's how we do it.

Choose a spot. Stand there for 15 minutes, looking and listening for all the birds. Identify them, if you can. Use a local guidebook to help you learn the birds.

Young children have a difficult time sitting still for 15 minutes. So, let them play while you look out for birds. They'll soon start pointing them out while they're playing, and ask you to identify for them.

It's fun to count birds at the beach.

We also enjoy looking out for birds when we visit the park.

 Here's a photo of our 8 year old looking up a bird with our state's Audubon guide.

Once you become comfortable identifying the birds you usually see in your neighborhood, then you're ready to share your counts. Keep track of them with eBird. This is an app made by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Ornithology is the study of birds. 

How to use eBird

It's such an easy app to use! 

Open it up, check the date and time, and click the big "start checklist" button.

Here's a picture.

Did you hear and see that laughing gull? Better count it! Start typing gull to see a list of all the gulls. Click the plus button beside the specific gull that you saw. You can click the plus button for each additional bird that you see.

Here is a photo of what you can expect to see on the screen.

Are you all done with your count? Go ahead, double check that your location is accurate and submit your work! 

Always Counting

We found bird counting to be far more rewarding than we expected, and now we count them all the time. Bird watching is like going for a pokemon walk, except the birds are real, and we can contribute to science and conservation efforts with the data we collect and share.