Have you been confused by the winter weather this year? We can get seven-day weather forecasts with minute-by-minute updates on practically every electronic device we own. Now imagine being a bird. One day the weather is warm and you are thinking spring is almost here. Yet the next day it is freezing cold! It would be tough to be a bird. You wouldn't know whether to fly north or south.

One of the fun things about watching the birds at your bird feeder is wondering if these birds have been there all winter or if they have been flying around. Birds move across the continent during the winter more than most people realize. One of the ways we know this is by counting the birds that come to bird feeders. The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology has been sponsoring Project Feeder Watch for many years. All winter long, thousands of participating citizen scientists record all the birds they see at their feeders each week. By comparing results, it is possible to see where birds migrate across the country.

If you have been feeding birds, another citizen scientist opportunity is coming up soon. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), operated by the Cornel Lab of Ornithology, will take place Feb.15-18 and you can do it from the comfort of your living room. It is an annual four-day period when bird watchers create a snapshot of the locations of birds across the continent. Anyone can be a bird watcher for those four days. And a "backyard" can be anywhere you happen to be: a schoolyard, a local park, the balcony of a high-rise apartment or a wildlife refuge.

Doing the count is easy. Simply count the birds you see at any one location. The highest number of each species seen on any of the days is recorded. Then you go to www.birdcount.org to record your list online. Check out the photo contest page to see some great photos.

The GBBC website can help you prepare for a trip to the backyard. The site is full of tips of all kinds, including information on bird feeding, how to use binoculars, how to make your yard bird-friendly, and how to identify birds, especially those tricky, similar-looking species. There are even tips on how to be a bird-friendly family.

The results of each survey are displayed on a variety of maps. You can easily see the distribution pattern of any bird species. You can also see the same map change over time as the bird's mapped distribution changes. You can even compare your sightings to everyone else's in your state.

Make sure the birds from your community are well represented in the count. It doesn't matter whether you report the five species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day's outing to a wildlife refuge.

This event was developed and managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, with sponsorship from Wild Birds Unlimited storeowners.

February is "National Bird-Feeding Month" as noted by the National Bird-Feeding Society. If you are new to bird feeding or just want to learn more about feeding birds, you can go to the society's website for more information (www.birdfeeding.org). You will find several educational pamphlets to improve your wild bird feeding experience including a list of the top ten tips to a better bird feeding experience, bird food preference chart, bird feeder preference chart, brochures on keeping birds safeS and a bird identification sheet.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.