Did You Know?
Get involved in a nature-driven study with citizen science projects.
Citizen science projects
25
Use your yard for science! Count birds at your feeders to help Project Feederwatch calculate the distribution of bird species in North America plus the top 25 in each region.
14,000
Journey North examines migration patterns and tracks wildlife like hummingbirds, earthworms and monarch butterflies. In spring 2018, Journey North participants reported more than 14,000 sightings of adult monarchs.
5
To figure out how plants respond to environmental changes, Budburst charts blooming cycles for five groups of plants: wildflowers and herbs, evergreen trees and shrubs, conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs, and grasses.
1,500
Across the country, more than 1,500 citizen science projects lead to important discoveries, using information everyday people submit through websites, apps and in-person reports. As a volunteer you can take part in bird censuses, tracking monarch butterfly migrations, counting nests and other projects.
122
You’ve probably heard of ebird, where participants note sightings and scientists verify the data. Visit ebird’s website to view reports on the status of 122 species.
10
Measuring natural data doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Try a program like Cornell’s Celebrate Urban Birds, which asks volunteers to do only 10 minutes of bird-watching each day, for three days.