Local club participating in global bird-counting project

A local Starkville club is participating in an online citizen-science project.

The Starkville Town and Country Garden Club is encouraging adults, teens, and children to participate with them in the 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count happening now and going on until Monday, February 20.

Each year, people all over the world spend four days watching and counting the birds they see in their area and then report their count to ebird, one of the world's largest nature databases with more than 100 million bird sightings.

When she joined the Starkville Town and Country Garden Club in 2009, Marie Cayson participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count with her fellow members. She said it has never been easier to record data in this day and age with modern technology.

“Now the technology makes it easy for individuals, families, and groups to report their bird sightings with their mobile phones or a downloadable app,” said Cayson. “You can even watch the data roll in from around the world via the interactive map.”

Because bird populations are constantly changing, scientists need help to track and trend the movements of bird species around the world; therefore, the data gathered by citizens is extremely important. The data allows scientists to know if bird populations are growing and shrinking, and what kind of birds inhabit different areas.

The month of February was chosen to conduct the four-day bird count because it is just before

spring migrations ramp up in March. Participants just need to watch and count the birds they see and hear for at least 15 minutes during the four-day period and then submit their list online.

“This is a great event you can enjoy with your family, school children, friends or by yourself. They have made it so easy to participate, even if you have never done any birdwatching before,” Cayson said.

There is a step-by-step guide for how to participate on the website, www.birdcount.org, which explains three ways to enter your bird count data.

Bettie Cummings, chairman of the Birds, Bees, Butterflies, and Backyard Habitat Committee of the Starkville Town and Country Garden Club, encourages people to visit www.birdcount.org to learn more. The website offers detailed information about how to participate, which software to utilize, and offers answers to frequently asked questions (FAQS).