Citizen Science for the Birds

Project FeederWatch

If you have a bird feeder, live in the United States or Canada, can count to twenty, and like making a small contribution to the natural sciences, consider signing up for Cornell University's Project FeederWatch. It's not too late.

Every week you count the birds (at your convenience) for a two-day stretch, note the weather, and report the results online. You pay $15 for a data-entry kit and all the bird-counting that your heart desires. Urban, suburban, rural — all locations are valuable.

Here is M.'s and my first count of the year. The second and third columns are "average group size when seen" and "average group size per count period," which since it is the first count are the same as the head (or beak) count.

Eurasian Collared-Dove	4	4.0	4.0
Northern Flicker	1	1.0	1.0
Steller's Jay	7	7.0	7.0
Blue Jay	1	1.0	1.0
Western Scrub-Jay	1	1.0	1.0
Black-capped Chickadee	1	1.0	1.0
Mountain Chickadee	1	1.0	1.0
Red-breasted Nuthatch	3	3.0	3.0
White-breasted Nuthatch	1	1.0	1.0
Dark-eyed Junco	9	9.0	9.0
Cassin's Finch	2	2.0	2.0
Pine Siskin	16	16.0	16.0
American Goldfinch	2	2.0	2.0
Evening Grosbeak	1	1.0	1.0