Crow enjoys a bath

Christmas Bird Count 2012: Form a counting circle or be part of one this holiday season. The 113th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count takes place Dec 14, 2012 to Jan 5, 2013. It’s free, it’s fun and it’s a great way, along with tens of thousands of others, to participate in citizen science. Data from some 2,000 circles are compiled and can be queried online. Details How does the bird count help birds ? Read more

Project Feeder Watch: If you’re a serious birder, then you already have a feeder, or two, in your yard. The Cornell (University) Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada conducts an annual winter-long survey to determine broad movement of winter bird populations, trends and species abundance. Nature centers, classrooms, bird clubs, families and individuals can sign up. There is a $15 annual fee to get all the materials and information (bird poster, guide to what to feed birds, tally sheet) and instructions on how to count (yes, there’s a method) Don’t miss out! Read more

Nestwatch: When spring comes, be ready to search nests and share what you find through Cornell Lab’s Nestwatch program. You get certified in nest watching, visit nest(s) every 3-4 days, record data and share it online. Details

Bohemian Waxwing/Courtesy of Leonard Medlock

eBird: For the truly hardcore birder, participate in the Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology program that captures vast numbers of bird observations on abundance and distribution – a huge biodiversity data resource. In March 2012, for example, participants reported over 3.1 million observations. This is a real-time, online checklist that continues to be built through an interactive system between birder-data builders and the Cornell Lab.  “eBird documents the presence or absence of species, as well as bird abundance through checklist data. A simple and intuitive web-interface engages tens of thousands of participants to submit their observations or view results via interactive queries into the eBird database. eBird encourages users to participate by providing Internet tools that maintain their personal bird records and enable them to visualize data with interactive maps, graphs, and bar charts. “And the online information is available in in English, Spanish, and French. Details

 Birders App: Audubon Birds- A Field Guide to North American Birds

Acorn Woodpecker/Courtesy of Pam Koch

Operates on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and iPad Mini, Android, Kindle Fire and Nook Color It’s a mobile field guide that features 820 species. An essential birding tool, you can use it to create life lists, tag favorites, and post to Facebook. Costs $9.99. Details