[Bristol-Birds] Project FeederWatch

Area Birders:

Project FeederWatch, a "Citizen-Science" project of the Cornell Lab of 
Ornithology, began it's twenty-second season on November 8, 2008. 

Last season, more than 6.6 million bird observations were submitted on 115,466 
checklists from 9,748 participants.
Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at 
backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. 
FeederWatchers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see 
at their feeders from November through early April. FeederWatch helps 
scientists track broadscale movements of winter bird populations and long-term 
trends in bird distribution and abundance.

The massive amounts of data collected by FeederWatchers across the continent 
help scientists understand 

  a.. long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance 
  b.. the timing and extent of winter irruptions of winter finches and other 
species. 
  c.. expansions or contractions in the winter ranges of feeder birds 
  d.. the kinds of foods and environmental factors that attract birds 
  e.. how disease is spread among birds that visit feeders 
FeederWatch information and results are regularly published in scientific 
journals and newsletters.

As a FeederWatcher, you will learn more about winter birds and how their 
populations are faring. You'll also be glad to contribute to the science and 
conservation of North American feeder birds. 

For example, FeederWatch data between 1988 and 2006 indicated a 50% decline in 
the % of sites hosting Evening Grosbeaks survey-wide. This quantifies the 
changes observed by  FeederWatchers who have noted smaller winter flocks and 
less frequent southward irruptions of this gregarious finch. 

Anyone with an interest in birds and a feeder to watch can join. To learn more 
and/or to join, just Google Project FeederWatch. I have enjoyed taking part in 
this important project for 19 years. And the FeederWatch data base contains the 
individual records of my feeding station observations which I can review for 
trends and comparsion with state and/or regional data. Kinda neat!

Ron Harrington, Bristol, VA

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