Become a Citizen Scientist as you Feed Birds by Jeff Rugg on Creators.com

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Become a Citizen Scientist as you Feed Birds

It is that time of year again when the weather gets colder. Many people become concerned about the wild birds in their yard and begin bird feeding. This is also the time of year for bird feeders to join the 15,000 other people who are a part of the largest and longest running citizen-science project.

Project FeederWatch began in Ontario in the mid-1970s. After running for 10 years in Canada, it was expanded to the United States with the help of Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology. Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas and other locales in North America. FeederWatch volunteers periodically count the highest numbers of each species they see at their feeders from November through April. The project helps scientists track movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.

All you have to do is count all the birds in your yard at one time and then report the numbers to the lab. The data collected shows which bird species visit feeders at thousands of locations across the continent every winter. The results also indicates how many individuals of each species are seen. This information can be used to measure changes in the distribution and abundances of bird species over time.

Each year, the population level and distribution of each species fluctuates. For example, drought and forest fires can reduce natural food sources, so birds may be forced out of the mountains, to lower elevations, where they can find more food, including bird feeders.

If people do not keep track all over the country, we would not see the weekly changes in distribution and abundance. This data is important because it provides information about bird population biology that cannot be detected by any other easy method.

Some of the scientific information that can be collected by using citizen-scientists is not just in the short term — the long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance as well as the timing and extent of winter irruptions of winter finches and other species can also be seen when the study is repeated each winter. Expansions or contractions in the winter ranges of feeder birds, the kinds of foods and environmental factors that attract birds and how disease is spread among birds that visit feeders can be determined.

FeederWatch data is used to gauge the impact of West Nile virus on wild birds.

Learn more about the project at www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw, where you can see maps, trend graphs and other results generated from FeederWatch data. FeederWatchers receive a Research Kit that includes: the FeederWatch Handbook, a guide to feeding birds; a full-color identification poster of common feeder birds (both Eastern and Western, painted by renowned artist Larry McQueen); a 14-month calendar featuring photographs taken by FeederWatch participants last season; instructions on how to participate; and paper data forms and/or access to our online data entry system. In addition, participants receive a subscription to the newsletter of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Since the lab is a nonprofit organization, there is a $15 annual participation fee ($12 for members of the Lab of Ornithology) that covers your materials and newsletter subscription, staff support, website support and data analysis. Visit the website or call (800) 843-BIRD (2473).

Before you get started on your path to becoming a citizen-scientist, I can answer a few common questions and myths about bird feeding. First, the birds will not become dependent on your feeder as a source of food. There are many other sources of natural food that they consume each day. They will visit the feeder on a daily basis and become accustomed to its presence. Feeders do help birds find a reliable source of food during heavy snow or ice storms, so you may want to have someone keep it full when you are not available.

Uncooked rice does not expand in the bird's stomach and kill them. Many species of birds eat rice and other grains in the fields where they grow and are not harmed. Peanut butter does not stick in the bird's throat and choke them. You can mix cornmeal, oatmeal, grit or birdseed with the peanut butter to make it less sticky if you want.

A bird's feet will not stick to a metal perch. Birds do not have sweat glands in their feet, and the feet are covered in scales made from material like your fingernails. Just think of all the metal fences and telephone wires they sit on all day long and they don't stick to them.

E-mail questions to Jeff Rugg, University of Illinois Extension at jrugg@illinois.edu. 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.