Community Science

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Every February, count for as little as 15 minutes in your own backyard to help expand our understanding of birds.

Join the fun! Take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that takes place each year in February. It's a great chance for birdwatchers of all ages to enjoy birds and nature! To participate, all you need to do is count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report your sightings online at birdcount.org.

Anyone can take part in the GBBC, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard or anywhere in the world.

More than 160,000 people of all ages and walks of life worldwide join the GBBC each year to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds. The results are reported online to Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology and aid research on where bird species are spending the winter.

To learn how to participate and view past GBBC results, visit birdcount.org.

The 27th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 16, through Monday, February 19. If you would like to participate in a guided Audubon Connecticut GBBC event, please see our events below.

Saturday, February 17

Beaver Pond Park (New Haven) at 10:30AM
With Menunkatuck Audubon Society and CPEN. Info here.

Boyd Woods Sanctuary (Litchfield) at 9AM
With Litchfield Hills Audubon Society. Info here.

Cos Cob Library at 10AM
With Greenwich Audubon Center. Register here.

Grass Island Park (Greenwich) at 1PM
With Greenwich Audubon Center. Register here.

Hotchkiss Library (Sharon) at 10AM
With Sharon Audubon Center. Register here.

The Learning Corridor (New Haven) at 12PM
With Menunkatuck Audubon Society and CPEN. Info here.

Montgomery Pinetum Owl Prowl (Greenwich Botanical Center) at 5PM
With Greenwich Audubon Center. Register here.

West River Memorial Park (West Haven) at 9:00AM
With Menunkatuck Audubon Society and CPEN. Info here.

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