Time for Project FeederWatch

Project FeederWatch begins November 11 and continues through April 13. A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada, Project FeederWatch invites you – and the children in your life – to observe and count the birds that turn up at your bird feeder. You can contribute to a nearly 30-year database that helps scientists understand bird biology, population trends, and migrations. New participants receive a FeederWatch handbook, a full-color poster of common feeder birds, a bird-watching-days calendar, the annual report on Winter Bird Highlights, and a subscription to the Cornell Lab newsletter. Membership costs $18.

Explore Project FeederWatch and the FeederWatch Cam. 

From A Kid's Winter EcoJournal by Toni Albert. Illustration by Margaret Brandt.

Project FeederWatch is a wonderful backyard or classroom project that can easily become interdisciplinary, including social studies, geography, math, reading, writing, and science. Being a FeederWatcher teaches children to be observant and leads to asking questions, doing research, making predictions, designing experiments, and drawing conclusions. And there you have it – a young scientist!

I’ve been feeding birds daily at our feeder for thirty-five years, so you can imagine that they know my schedule and my voice. But two years ago, it occurred to me that I could call the birds by whistling. I whistled a three-note call, my best attempt at a birdcall, and they came immediately. Birds, like other animals, are curious, so it wasn’t surprising that they came to investigate. But in just a few days, they responded to my whistle by flying in from all directions. I can watch them land in the trees around me, quickly coming nearer, until they dart into the feeder, so close I can hear the soft whoosh of their wings. It’s thrilling to have this sense of communication and understanding!