Bird watchers from coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010. Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers at all levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges.

Each checklist submitted by "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing-and how to protect them. Last year's participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded.

"This is a chance to hone your observation skills, learn more about birds, and be part of an important national endeavor," says ornithologist Doug Gray for Backyard Birds. He leads bird walks for this store at 2374 E. 54th Street. "Counting birds for a few minutes each day February 12 through February 15, and submitting your list via the internet provides Cornell with valuable data about birds all across America. Indiana is important to the count because of migration patterns."

Gray explains, "Anyone who can identify even a few species can provide important information that enables researchers to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities." The Great Backyard Bird Count welcomes novice bird watchers to experts. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org

One 2009 participant said, "Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. It opened my eyes to a whole new interest, and I love it!"

"Bird populations are always shifting," reports Steve Pearson of Backyard Birds. For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.

On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at www.birdcount.org. Or contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473 or gbbc@cornell.edu, or Audubon at citizenscience@audubon.org or (215) 355-9588, ext 16. Locally, you can also call Backyard Birds at 317-255-7333. Let's have the birds of Broad Ripple represented in this national census.