The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a fun event for bird watchers of all ages and abilities, from beginners to experts. The 24th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2021. Participants are needed! To help, you will need to count birds for at least 15 minutes (or longer if you wish) for one or more days of the four-day event. You can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.
If you’re curious about how to participate, Union College’s Kelly Adirondack Center is hosting a Zoom conversation at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. Featuring John Loz, President of Southern Adirondack Audubon and Chair of the Board of Audubon New York Chapters. John will discuss this year’s boon of irruptive finches and talk about all the other birds people are seeing. He’ll also share how to contribute to this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count and how to view other birders’ entries. Space at this event is limited to facilitate conversation so please register by emailing Margie Amodeo at [email protected].
Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing and how to protect them. Last year, almost 270,000 people participated in the GBBC. Let’s top that number this year! For more information or to submit checklists visit the GBBC website.
Photo of barred owl by Fred Couse.
Observing resilient winter breeding crossbills raise their young
I mentioned before how the jays fill their beaks with seeds and fly off with them to store somewhere, just in case I don’t feed them anymore. Their beaks are full of sunflower seeds or corn when I catch them in the potter traps. They are so full, in fact, that you can see it while I have them in hand and they can’t chirp (or bite) while their beaks are full. Most times, I can see the seeds and they let me band them, and measure a wing. They also usually let me check for age by looking for bars on the outside feathers of the wing before they go out the window to freedom. And they are still holding those seeds when they are released by the way. Blue jays are one of the most placid birds in hand while banding them. Very often they just lay still and watch what you are doing with their big black eyes. However, their feet are active and grab on to anything that touches them, like your fingers, a pencil, or the banding pliers…and they have a fairly good grip.
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