Birdfeeders

Project FeederWatch is a survey run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in Ithaca, NY, and Bird Studies Canada, a nonprofit research group in Ontario. About 15,000 volunteers across the continent will keep a record of the birds that show up at their backyard bird feeders from November to early April. The purpose of this study is to track population and migration trends. Over the years, volunteers have documented declines in various bird populations, as well as the invasion of exoticspecies and the devastating effect of West Nile virus on the American crow. This is citizen science at its best for it provides data for something larger than watching birds at the bird feeders in our yards. We are a part of gathering a large body of useful information. Programs like this one are constantly adding to what we know about birds.