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 Pine Warbler by FeederWatcher Marie Lehmann, Milton, Florida
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Project FeederWatch eNews
November 15, 2022
The 36th FeederWatch Season is Underway
The 36th season of Project FeederWatch started November 1, and counts are already pouring in. See what birds are being reported in your state or province in the Bird Summaries in the Explore section of the FeederWatch website, and see how your counts compare to the counts of other FeederWatchers in your area in the new Site List, available from the Your Data home page and FeederWatch mobile app. If you haven't signed up yet, join today!
Live Q & A with FeederWatch Staff Tomorrow
Project FeederWatch Leader Emma Greig and Project Assistant Heidi Faulkner will join Ben Walters from the Cornell Lab's Bird Cams team to talk about Project FeederWatch, bird feeding, and more, as well as to answer viewer questions during a live one-hour webinar on November 16 at 2 PM. Learn more and register.
Ontario FeederWatch Cam Is Live
The Ontario FeederWatch cam has returned for another FeederWatch season, and it has already delighted viewers with visits from Evening Grosbeaks. Streaming live from Tammie and Ben Hache's beautiful backyard feeders in Manitouwadge, Ontario, the cam has been providing views of other vibrantly colored birds like Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls since 2012. Watch live.
New Signup Page for U.S. Participants Connected to Your Data
Project FeederWatch recently launched a new signup page for U.S. residents that not only provides instant access to data entry but also automatically attaches your registration to your past FeederWatch data if you log into the account you use to submit data when you sign up. What's more, the signup page will recognize if you are a new or a returning participant. And if you have already paid for the current season, the page will tell you and not let you pay twice, so long as you are signed in.
FeederWatch Featured on WBU Podcast
WBU's Nature Centered podcast featured FeederWatch project leader, Emma Greig, who talked about how easy it is to become a backyard scientist and about the benefits of counting birds for Project FeederWatch. Learn more and listen to the podcast.
FeederWatching Counting Reminders
Please count…
- birds that you see during a count day that are attracted to your count site because of something you provided, such as water, bird food, plantings, or shelter, or because of the activity at your feeders, even if they do not eat food in your site or take a bath;
- hawks, owls, and other predatory birds, such as roadrunners and shrikes, that are attracted by the activity at your feeders even if they are not successful in catching a meal.
But don’t count…
- birds that simply fly over your count site, such as Canada Geese or Sandhill Cranes;
- birds that you hear only
- birds that you observe outside of your chosen count days.
Males and females count as one, unless you see them both at once
Although you can distinguish between male and female for some species, you still must report only the number of individuals that you saw simultaneously, regardless of sex. It is important that counts for all species be conducted in the same way.
"Boring" counts are important!
While some FeederWatchers see lots of birds and many different bird species in their count sites, most participants see low numbers of the same birds every week. These “predictable” counts are the heart of FeederWatch. Focusing on the extreme cases would provide a biased view of bird populations. Participants often believe that researchers are not interested in data about the same old birds, especially when the birds are “just” doves or sparrows or starlings. But scientists need counts of all birds—as well as reports of no birds—to be able to monitor populations trends over time.
Remember to enter one set of counts—tallying across both count days
Each time you see a species in your count site during your count days, count the number of individuals in view simultaneously and record that number on your tally sheet or in our mobile app. If later during your two-day count you see more individuals of a species in view simultaneously, revise your tally to reflect the larger number. At the end of your two-day count, the largest number of each species that you saw simultaneously becomes the number that you report to FeederWatch. Make one report for each two-day count.
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