Are You Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count 2010 ?

Get out your binoculars, your walking shoes and a bird book or two.

It's time for the Great Backyard Bird Count 2010.

This Friday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 15 people across the country will be taking a few minutes out of their day to stop and count birds for science. Whether it is a long list of many species seen at a wildlife area or just two English house sparrows and a crow seen from your apartment patio, every bird list is IMPORTANT.

Even if you watch your yard and you see NO BIRDS. That is important too.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way for family members of all ages to come together in an outdoor event. You enter your data via the Internet and can watch the interactive map on the website change as data comes in from across the country.

Take a minute and schedule at least 15 minutes sometime over the President's Day weekend to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. YES, pigeons count.

Great Backyard Bird Count

Count with a group in Los Angeles

Great Backyard Bird Count - L.A. Zoo

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count !

Across North America, citizens are playing a vital role for science by counting wild birds like this California towhee.

Why is this important?

Bird counts turned in to the Great Backyard Bird Count website will create a snapshot of bird populations across the continent.

The Great Backyard Bird Count continues Feb. 15 -18.

You can participate by counting birds in your backyard, on a walk through your neighborhood, in a local park or wildlife area. See the website http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ for easy instructions. Be a Citizen Scientist and help count birds in your area.

When and where are birds nesting? If you have a nest that you are watching, NestWatch wants YOU ! You can enter your information about a bird nest at www.nestwatch.org.

This morning Docents and Zoo members at the Los Angeles Zoo counted 42 species of wild birds on the Zoo grounds for Great Backyard Bird Count and spotted an Anna's hummingbird already nesting, as well as red-shouldered hawks and black phoebe's preparing nests. (hummingbird nest 2007)

Bird List from Los Angeles Zoo, 2/16/08

1. Mallard - 18
2. Great Egret - 1
3. Turkey Vulture - 2
4. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
5. Cooper's Hawk - 1
6. Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
7. Red-tailed Hawk - 3
8. Ring-billed Gull - 1
9. Band-tailed Pigeon - 2
10. Mourning Dove - 4
11. Yellow-chevroned Parakeet - 6
12. Anna's Hummingbird - 4
13. Allen's Hummingbird - 4
14. Acorn Woodpecker - 1
15. Red-breasted Sapsucker - 1
16. Nuttall's Woodpecker - 2
17. Black Phoebe - 6
18. Cassin's Kingbird - 2
19. Common Raven - 4
20. Bushtit - 8
21. Bewick's Wren - 1
22. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
23. Hermit Thrush - 3
24. Swainson's Thrush -1
25. American Robin - 6
26. Northern Mockingbird - 2
27. European Starling - 10
28. Cedar Waxwing - 30
29. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - 8
30. Spotted Towhee - 1
31. California Towhee - 6
32. Fox Sparrow (Sooty) - 2
33. Song Sparrow - 19
34. Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
35. White-crowned Sparrow - 4
36. Dark-eyed Junco - 7
37. Red-winged Blackbird - 30
38. Brewer's Blackbird - 45
39. House Finch - 45
40. Lesser Goldfinch - 25
41. American Goldfinch - 12
42. House Sparrow - 4

Download a pdf of my L.A. Zoo Bird List