Join birders all over the world for the 18th annual Great Backyard Bird Count from February 13-16, 2015!

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a free, fun event open to birders of all ages and experience levels. The purpose of the event is to engage bird watchers in counting birds in order to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. To participate in the event, you must first register online at http://gbbc.birdcount.org. Once registered, you are asked to count birds in any area that you would like for as little as 15 minutes on one or more days of the four-day event. Then you should record your results online. All of the data collected during this event is submitted to help researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about the current state of certain birds, the protection of birds, and the environment that we share. Last year, over 144,000 checklists were submitted online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations that has ever been recorded.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is also a great opportunity for teachers to give their students insight into the exquisite behaviors of these creatures. GBBC is the perfect starting point for educators to help students learn more about the outdoors and wildlife, while also engaging in science. So, if you are interested in birding, go out on February 13-16 and participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count! You will be collecting valuable data to help ornithologists learn more about the way birds behave in their natural habitats — and maybe it will even spark your interest enough to join a Holbrook birding expedition to somewhere spectacular.