Learning about birds for free while celebrating the Great Backyard Bird Count- what could be more spectacular? Consider it a training session for counting the birds in your backyard.
Saturday morning for a few hours, you can take a family bird walk through the Birmingham Zoo. Get there by 8 a.m., and your admission is free. Audubon Society facilitators will gather at the Children's Zoo entrance gate and walk with Birmingham Audubon members and Birmingham Zoo bird curators serving as our expert guides to help with bird identification. The route will take us through the zoo, stopping in the Alabama Wilds and the water retention basin area where we are likely to see a variety of winter visitors and resident birds, and perhaps some shorebirds too. We will record our findings as we go.
We have scheduled this bird walk for the same weekend as the Great Backyard Bird Count. This is one of the largest citizen science projects in the world, relying on ordinary people to gather and submit data on birds. At the conclusion of the bird walk, the numbers and species of birds counted will be entered into the Great Backyard Bird Count database.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real- time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It's free, fun, and easy - and it helps the birds. Additionally, the Birmingham Zoo will hold a variety of bird related activities for children following the bird walk. You, your children or grandchildren are sure to enjoy themselves as we search for our fine-feathered friends, and you'll learn a thing or two about the GBBC process along the way. Make your plans now to live science and d.i.y.
