February 03, 2010 // Franchising.com // Carmel, Indiana – The 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place February 12 – 15. This citizen- science project allows participants to enjoy nature while being part of a very important study that helps better define bird ranges, populations, migration pathways and habitat needs.
Wild Birds Unlimited is a major sponsor of this joint project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Individuals, families, schools and organizations are encouraged to count birds at bird feeders and in backyards, local parks or other locations. Participants can count for as few as 15 minutes on one day or for as long as they wish each day of the four day event. Those tallies are then reported online through the BirdSource Web site at http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc. The BirdSource Web site is a revolutionary partnership between citizens and scientists. It gives participants almost instantaneous feedback through graphics, animated maps and other regularly-updated information. More than 93,600 checklists were submitted in 2009, recording the activity of 619 bird species.
Participants and others may also follow the GBBC on Twitter. Anyone who wants to tweet about the GBBC needs to include #gbbc (lower case letters) at the end of their message, and their tweet will be drawn into the widget on the Web site so everybody can share what they're seeing or what they're doing for the GBBC.
Wild Birds Unlimited is the original and largest franchise system of backyard bird feeding and nature specialty stores with more than 270 locations throughout the United States and Canada.
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