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February 13, 2026<\/p>\n
3 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Join the Great Backyard Bird Count\u2014for science!<\/p>\n Avian enthusiasts around the world will identify and count birds from February 13 through February 16 as part of a massive community science project<\/p>\n A male Northern Cardinal takes wing.<\/p>\n What are you doing this weekend? Valentine\u2019s Day and, in the U.S., Presidents\u2019 Day are coming up. And then the Lunar New Year begins. Perhaps less widely known is that the next few days are also literally for the birds. I\u2019m talking about the Great Backyard Bird Count, a project that avian enthusiasts around the globe can participate in to help scientists understand how birds are faring in our changing world.<\/p>\n The count, organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Birds Canada, is held for four days each February to take stock of global bird populations before they undertake seasonal migration starting in March. This year\u2019s event runs from February 13 through February 16. During this time, participants are encouraged to observe birds in a location of their choosing for 15 minutes or more at least once and to identify and count all of the birds they encounter in that interval. People can report their findings\u2014and share any photographs\u2014via the eBird or Merlin Bird ID apps, which are available for iOS and Android smartphones.<\/p>\n Participants of all skill levels are welcome. If you\u2019re new to bird identification, the Merlin Bird ID app can help you figure out what kind of bird you\u2019re looking at or hearing. There are lots of excellent tools for bird identification and appreciation out there. (If you really want to nerd out, check out the Cornell lab\u2019s new phylogeny explorer, which allows you to delve into the entire family tree of birds.) Or you could go old-school\u2014forgo the gadgets and record your observations with pen and paper in the field, then enter your data into eBird afterward.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n By participating in the count, you\u2019ll be joining a large community of like-minded bird fans. In the 2024 event, some 642,000 people from 210 countries or subregions found 7,920 species. Birders in India reported several imperiled species such as the Andaman Serpent Eagle. Birders in Canada observed species that had wandered well outside their usual ranges, such as Lapland Longspurs in Saskatchewan and Gray-crowned Rosy Finches in the Northwest Territories. In California there were rare February sightings of Plumbeous Vireos and Summer Tanagers, which normally spend this time of year farther south and only go to California to breed in the spring. It may be that with milder winters in that region in recent years, these birds are staying in their breeding territories year-round or that they are migrating there earlier than they used to.<\/p>\n In the northeastern U.S., where I live, an especially cold and snowy winter has largely limited my birding efforts of late to peering out of my kitchen window at the bird feeder. So I have a pretty good idea of who will visit it this weekend. Dark-eyed Juncos, Tufted Titmice, House Sparrows, House Finches, Mourning Doves and European Starlings will dominate. Some White-throated Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, Song Sparrows, White-breasted Nuthatches and my resident Carolina Wren will make appearances, as well as Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. Also dropping in will be Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays, dressed in the bright colors I crave in the dreary season.<\/p>\n Venturing beyond the kitchen window will bring more species. The other day, when it finally warmed up just enough to go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood, I was delighted to find two Eastern Bluebirds, a Hairy Woodpecker and a Brown Creeper in the cedars at the end of the driveway. Down the street a Northern Mockingbird fed on the withered berries of a bittersweet vine; a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker mewed unseen in the distance.<\/p>\n I might head to a nearby reservoir or beach to look for ducks\u2014after all, here in the Northeast, winter is weird duck time, as the wonderful cartoonist Rosemary Mosco calls it. Or maybe I\u2019ll journey north in search of Evening Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills. Come to think of it, I haven\u2019t visited the local sewage plant lately. I wonder whether any warblers decided to linger there in its relatively balmy, if somewhat stinky, microclimate instead of making the long journey south to their usual wintering grounds.<\/p>\n At night I\u2019ll be keeping an ear out for the pair of Great Horned Owls that have been hooting their signature \u201cWho\u2019s awake? Me, too!\u201d song to each other since last December. I\u2019ve never laid eyes on this particular couple, but I love knowing that they\u2019re around. This time of year they\u2019re getting ready to lay their eggs. With luck, in a few months, the screams of their hungry owlets will pierce the night air.<\/p>\n What birds will you observe in your corner of the world? I can\u2019t wait to find out!<\/p>\n We’re looking to host the most interesting science conversations on the web for this topic.<\/span><\/p>\n Start the Discussion<\/span><\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 13, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Join the Great Backyard Bird Count\u2014for science! Avian enthusiasts around the world will identify and count birds from February 13 through February 16 as part of a massive community science project By Kate Wong A male Northern Cardinal takes wing. What are you doing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[16453,4254,23115,118,3295,516],"class_list":{"0":"post-44553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-backyard","9":"tag-bird","10":"tag-countfor","11":"tag-great","12":"tag-join","13":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n