Great Backyard Bird Count: Camden County Encourages Residents To Participate This Weekend

Press release from the Camden County Government:

February 15, 2023

Each February, for four days, the world comes together for the love of birds. Over these four days we invite people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting them. These observations help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) was the first online citizen-science project (also referred to community science) to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time. In 2013, the GBBC became a global project when they began entering data into eBird, the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project.

According to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey is home to over 450 species of birds and many of them are found right here in Camden County. Camden County recently installed bird-friendly glass on all of the windows in our new sustainability center in Gloucester Township.

From the National Audubon Society: Birds are important because they keep systems in balance: they pollinate plants, disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But they also feed our spirits, marking for us the passage of the seasons, moving us to create art and poetry, inspiring us to flight and reminding us that we are not only on, but of, this earth.

How to Participate

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 NEW to bird watching and bird identification and have a smartphone, we recommend you use the Merlin Bird ID app to enter your first bird.It is FREE and easy to use.

Using Merlin Bird ID

If you are already using eBird to track your birding activity or an experienced bird watcher, the FREE eBird Mobile app is a fast way to enter your bird lists right from the palm of your hand.

Using eBird Mobile

If you prefer to enter your sightings on a computer, perhaps after making a list while on a hike or watching your feeders, we’ll walk you through how.

Using eBird on a Computer to Participate – Great Backyard Bird Count

This press release was produced by the Camden County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.