According to recent studies, in the last 50 years, bird populations have declined by nearly 3 billion birds across North American.  That is about 1 out of every 4 birds.These numbers come from a series of databases including citizen science led programs such as the Christmas Bird Count and Great Backyard Bird Count.  The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an easy way for the community to engage with nature and create a real-time snapshot of bird populations in our area as well as across the world.  For example, in 2014, the GBBC highlighted a large interruption in Snowy Owl's in the northeastern part of the US and has shown changes in bird movement due to weather pattern changes. The Great Backyard Bird Count took place on February 14-17, 2020.

Backyard Birds was presented to 66 participants.  Participants learned how to identify local birds in the area, life histories, habitat requirements and how to participate in the GBBC.  Participants were ask to completed a written evaluation directly after the program.  Participants were then given a follow-up electronic survey after the Great Backyard Bird Count to determine how many utilized the information learned during the program for world-wide citizen science initiatives. Results can be found below:

Written Survey (37 surveys completed):

100% of participants felt they could better ID, understand, and identify damage done by local birds after the program.

95% intended on doing more research on birds on their own.

100% of participants felt more inspired to engage and explore their environment through nature hikes, exploring parks, etc.

100% of participants felt the information was practical and could be used in their everyday life.

Electronic Survey (26 surveys completed)

20% actively participated in the GBBC because of the Backyard Birds program

Approximately 80 birds were identified and submitted into data collection for the GBBC

80% were interested in participating in guided bird hikes in the future