Audubon and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology will host the annual Great Backyard Bird Count over Presidents Weekend, February 14-17.

Bird watchers count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. Count birds in your yard or at your favorite park, then enter your checklists at birdcount.org All the data contribute to a snapshot of bird distribution and help scientists see changes over the past 21 years.

The first year, bird watchers submitted about 13,500 checklists from the United States and Canada. Fast-forward to the most recent event in 2017. Over the four days of the count, an estimated 214,000 bird watchers from more than 100 countries submitted nearly 174,000 bird checklists reporting 5,940 species – more than half the known bird species in the world.

MCAS will be counting birds at the Manasquan Reservoir Environmental Center over the weekend, and we will report our results on our Facebook page and on the website. Visitors are welcome and encouraged! For more information on how to participate in your own back yard, please visit http://gbbc.birdcount.org.