Great Backyard Bird Count

The Cornell Lab and the Audubon Society host this event every year. You will need two apps to participate: eBird and Merlin ID.

Participating is easy, fun to do alone or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.

Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.

Step 2: Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 17-20, 2023.

Step 3: Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:

• If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing.
• If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).

If you already contribute to Merlin or eBird, continue what you are doing! All entries over the 4-days count towards GBBC.

These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.