Become a ‘Citizen Scientist’

November 21, 2013 · 0 Comments

Winter is almost upon us and the annual feeder watch program has again begun. Do you feed the birds in your backyard already? You can become a feeder watch participant (citizen scientist). www.birdscanada.org or 1-888-448-2473. There is a small fee for becoming a BSC member and with that your feeder watching is free. A great way to get your kids involved in the outdoors from inside the house where it is nice, cozy & warm. You will get a bird poster to help you identify the birds and a calendar to help you know when to start and when to finish. Feederwatch handbook and access to put your data onto their website. The information that you collect and send to BSC helps scientists to study the winter birds. Program goes from November to April. They cannot do it without us. There is just too much work out there in bird studies and their habitats going on. So much information is collected through bird banding and through you and I counting birds at our feeders. You never know what to expect. And surprise visits can & do happen. Getting the whole family involved can be lots of fun.

Bird Studies Canada is partnered with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, their U.S. partner. But you must be a BSC member to join up. This will give you free participation in any of their other volunteer programs as well, for e.g Canadian Lakes Loon Survey. Also an e-newsletter by-weekly, and Bird Watch Canada magazine four times a year. If you know of a friend or family member who is interested in feeding the birds and you think they would enjoy doing this program. Then this would be a great Christmas gift for them. It takes 2 days a week. You learn bird behavior. Is it stormy, how do storms affect their feeding habits & behavior? What happens if a predator bird is nearby, for example a hawk, owl, or falcon? How do they behave? Make sure they have nearby natural shelter from predators whether they are natural or the neighbour’s cats which are the #1 killer of wild birds everywhere. A proven fact. A brush pile works well for shelter for birds and for small animals as well. You will be rewarded more than you can imagine. So climb aboard and become a citizen scientist. Join the team. Winter won’t seem so bad after all.

By Jennifer Howard