Greetings!

The Great Backyard Bird Count (run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and
Audubon) will take place this year February 15 - 18. We hope you'll notice
improvements at the site, based on your input and as resources allow. For
example, the checklists have continued to be refined (final versions will
be up in a few days.) In addition, we will now be able to map write-in
species immediately. For an overview of this project, its evolution, and
goals, please visit www.birdsource.org and read John Fitzpatrick and Frank
Gill's "Letter from the Directors." And be sure to check out results for
for the Northwest.
We hope you all will participate - just count the numbers and kinds of
birds you see in your backyard, local park, wildlife refuge, or other area
and send them in through the BirdSource website at www.birdsource.org. Keep
track of the postal code and time spent birding. You'll be able to quickly
see how your reports are contributing to the continent-wide picture. The
primary purpose of the count is to create a massive database of North
American birds so that researchers can track changes in bird distribution
and abundance. However, it's also fun and educational. This year, in
response to the Harry Potter frenzy, we have put together an owl feature
that we hope you and your family or school group will enjoy. In the next
week or so, we hope to have up on the site some additional findings from
the snow-depth data you provided (last year, we received about 52,000 snow
depth reports!) You'll also find a variety of bird identification,
conservation, and education materials.
For more information about the GBBC, visit the web site. Feel free to print
out any material from the site and send it along to others. Those not
online who wish to participate can submit their data at their local
library, they can call their local Audubon chapter for assistance, or they
can contact their nearest Wild Birds Unlimited store (WBU sponsors the
count), which may be submitting reports depending on the store. If all else
fails, the Lab's volunteers will enter as many reports as possible. Reports
can be sent to the Lab at GBBC, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850.
(To request an "offline packet," email cornellbirds at cornell.edu)
Please feel free to forward this message to friends, family, and
appropriate listservs. As always, we appreciate your participation!

Marge Villanova and Sally Conyne
Communications and Outreach Assistant Citizen Science Director
Cornell Lab of Ornithology Audubon
www.birds.cornell.edu www.audubon.org