Project FeederWatch starts soon!

Project FeederWatch, a joint program of Bird Studies Canada (BSC) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (the Lab), begins on Saturday November 12 and finishes Friday April 7. If you’d like to contribute important information about winter bird populations and yet do so from the comfort of your (warm, snow-free) living room, this is the program for you! The information gathered from FeederWatch participants all across North America provides the Lab and BSC scientists with invaluable information about winter bird populations and longterm trends in bird abundance and distribution.   

As a FeederWatch participant you provide food, water, and shelter for birds then observe the birds at your feeder(s) two consecutive days each week or every two weeks, or whatever time frame suits you. During each observation period you record the data then submit it by email to the Lab at the end of each session. Or, if you prefer to send your data by snail mail, you do so at the end of the season.

For more information go to www.bsc-eoc.org/pfw.html  Be sure to watch the instructional video, “Feederwatch Instructions” and read all the pages about the project. If you decide to sign up (I hope you do!) there's a $35 fee, but that gets you a membership in Bird Studies Canada (which has its own benefits), as well as a research kit, a poster, support from Lab staff, a subscription to the Lab’s quarterly newsletter, BirdScope, and Winter Bird Highlights, a report on the findings of the project’s findings. If you're already a member of BSC, there's no fee to join Project Feederwatch - just let them know you want to participate and they'll send you all the materials.

Let's make sure Gabriola is well represented!