Nature Conservancy encouraging people to get out and 'wing it' this weekend

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is encouraging people to look for birds this weekend. (Photo provided by Naomi Brezinski)

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is encouraging people to get out and wing it this Family Day long weekend by participating in a birdwatching project.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is in its 26th year and encourages people to get outside as well as help scientists keep track of bird populations.

Sarah Bradley is the stewardship coordinator for central Saskatchewan for the NCC and said even absolute beginners can participate in the project; all they need is a computer or phone.

“You don’t need to be an expert birder to participate,” Bradley said. “We’re lucky in the winter because there are fewer bird species around to try to identify, so it’s a great way to start learning your birds without it being too overwhelming.”

People can either download the eBird app to their phone or record their findings online at www.ebird.org. Bradley also suggested the Merlin Bird ID app.

“It’s kind of like Shazam for bird songs. It’s free, it also works to identify pictures of birds that you take, so both pictures and songs,” she said.

People can record the number and the species of birds they’re seeing, as well as the amount of time that it took to count those birds into the app or website.

“On any one of those days, you can take as little as 15 minutes to just stop and watch birds wherever you might see them, whether that’s a walk in the park or maybe watching through your window at the feeder in your backyard,” Bradley said.

“Every little bit helps us to understand how bird populations are doing over time.”

Bradley said that while many birds fly south for the winter, there are still several that stick around, including the black capped chickadee, downey woodpecker and hairy woodpecker.

“You might also see blue jays, bohemian waxwings are really beautiful species that come to Saskatchewan in the winter and then we have some of our more common species, like the black billed magpie, the common raven and then our provincial bird as well. If you get out into the countryside you might be lucky enough to see a sharp-tailed grouse,” she said.

Bradley said both groups or individuals could take part.

“It’s a great way to get kids outside, it’s kind of like a treasure hunt for birds, what are we going to find? Groups, I mean, that’s a great way to learn about birds. Go outside with somebody who knows their birds and that’s how you learn,” she said.

Participating in a project like this is important for scientists, according to Bradley.

“Scientists can’t be everywhere all the time to count birds and by sort of crowdsourcing this data out to the general public, they’re able to better understand how bird populations change over time,” she said.

“Especially in response to things like climate change, habitat loss, invasive species and more recently highly pathogenic avian influenza, which is taking a pretty hard hit on bird populations in North America.”

Bradley said the data collected this weekend doesn’t come out until later this year, but they will be posted here for people to see.

If someone wants to get better at bird identification and continue with birdwatching, Bradley has some tips.

“Get yourself a really good identification guide, you can get one at any bookstore. It’s helpful to join up with other people who are interested in the same thing.

It’s so much easier to learn when there are other people around that might be able to answer your questions so find a nature club in your local community and if that’s not possible, there are lots of pages on social media where you can connect with like-minded bird enthusiasts,” she said.

Last year, 192 countries participated in the project, recording about 75 per cent of the world’s bird populations.

More information on the project can be found here.