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February 2010 Bird Notes
Great Backyard Bird Count - Feb 12-15
It's that time again! The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is scheduled for Friday, February 12 though Monday, February 15, 2010. Last year more than 93,600 checklists were submitted online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. The event also helps pinpoint how much bird populations are always in flux. For example, the 2009, GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the East. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared with the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops to the north had caused the birds to move south to search for food.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count from novice feeder watchers to experts surveying a specific 'hot spot' for birds. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes or more on one or more days of the event. For complete information, identification tips, educational materials, maps, historical data and to report sightings online, go to www.birdcount.org . Also refer to the Bird Notes 2009 archives for February. And the second most abundant bird counted in 2009 was the Mourning Dove.
Statistics from 2009:
Total Checklists Submitted: 94,165
Total Species Observed: 620
Total Individual Birds Counted: 11,558,638
For those interested in historical Top Ten Lists for the Christmas Bird Counts go to http://gbbc.birdsource.org.
See Previous Bird Notes
For more information about birding in the Dorset and surrounding area email the . |
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