The Great Backyard Bird count (GBBC) takes place this holiday weekend. This global event has exploded in popularity. Last year, more than a half-million people worldwide participated! Their efforts resulted in 7,920 species being reported in more than 200 countries!
What initially started in the United States has grown into an international citizen-science event. David Bonner, co-director of the Center for Engagement in Science and Nature at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York said, “Joining your community to count birds means that we can track the long-term changes in bird populations, and we wouldn’t be able to do that without you. The world is changing fast, and birds often reflect the impact of environmental change first.”
As participants around the globe submit their sightings to the GBBC website, the data collected will help create a picture on how birds are faring. Certainly, wild bird populations are very dynamic, changing from year to year. There are many species that are in sharp decline, while other species seem to be holding their own. Some species’ numbers are increasing. There are many factors affecting wild bird populations—habitat loss, climate change, wind farms, skyscrapers, cars, cats, lights at night, etc. The list is long.
Participating in the 2025 GBBC is very easy. Each participant—or group—counts birds for any length of time (a minimum of 15 minutes is required) and reports the different species observed and the number of each species observed for each location visited.
When the GBBC first started back in 1998, the initial effort was focused on watching and counting the birds observed in one’s yard. Over time, the guidelines have evolved and changed. Current guidelines allow you to count birds anywhere—not just in your yard.
Locally we have many birding hotspots, such as Granite Basin, Goldwater Lake, Fain Park, Willow Lake, Watson Lake, the Peavine Trail, and Watson Woods Riparian Preserve. Maybe you would like to go birding to a place where you’ve never been before, such as Gilbert Water Ranch. You could do that, too!
The count period covers four days: Friday the 14th through Monday the 17th. You can participate on any one day, or on each of the days based on your time and availability.
If you’ve never participated in the GBBC before, I invite you to consider participating this year. I encourage you to visit the GBBC website at https://www.birdcount.org/participate to read the complete instructions.
If you do not have an eBird account, I would also encourage you to consider creating your own personal account at www.ebird.org. I use the eBird website regularly, and find it to be an invaluable tool for keeping my records of bird sightings. eBird also allows me to see where other individuals are seeing birds in the local area and beyond.
This past week I’ve been out in nature on several occasions, and have thoroughly enjoyed the mix of species I’ve seen including bald eagles, mergansers, falcons, hawks, gulls, cormorants, snipe, teal, and so many other varieties. On Monday evening, I watched a roadrunner cross all of the lanes of Highway 89 at the Rosser Street intersection. I was glad it made it safely across! We are blessed to live in an area rich in wild life and wild birds.
I’ve continued to see Anna’s hummingbirds as I’ve been out on the trails this past week. I’ve had several people tell me that after reading my column in the newspaper last week they put up a hummingbird feeder, and they already have hummingbirds coming to their feeders!
Until next week, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark Gold Crown Store, wild bird products, and Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 55 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
This past weekend was the winter solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. While I personally do not like the cold, I do love the winter night sky. Each morning when I go outside to retrieve the newspaper, I like to just pause, and look at the heavens and take in the wonder of the night sky.
Maybe like you, unfortunately I live in a neighborhood where some of my neighbors leave their outside lights on all night long. Why? I have no idea. To me it is annoying, and a poor use of precious resources. We live in a time when we need to be so mindful of how we use energy.
One may think it is a little thing, a 100 watt bulb left on all night, but multiply that by hundreds and thousands of lights left on all night and what a huge impact this has on energy use.
There is a dark sky ordinance in some communities. I personally like living in a community where people value dark skies. I like living in a neighborhood where there aren’t any street lights.
Another issue to consider is the impact of lights on wild birds, especially when they are migrating. Lights at night disorient while birds, resulting in window strikes, resulting in an untimely death.
Several months ago the Courier ran an article about outdoor lights at night, and the impact on wild birds. I concur.
