The Great Backyard Bird Count [1] starts this Friday, Feb. 16th and goes through Monday, Feb. 19th.

What it is [2]:

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. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

Why do it:

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

What to do [3]:

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes during February 16–19, 2007. Count birds at as many places and on as many days as you like—just keep a separate list of counts for each day and/or location.

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time, and write it down.

3. Enter your results on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site! [4]

Follow the above links for more info. It's a great educational outdoors/nature activity for the kids and fun for the entire family.

Here are the statistics from last year's GBBC:

Total Checklists Submitted: 60,503
Total Species Observed: 622
Total Individual Birds Counted: 7,594,742

Among Tennessee reporting localities for 2006, the Knoxville area topped the list [5] with 81 species and 161 reports, which was more than double the nearest location (Nashville) with 78 reports.

You can view all the results from last year's count here [6]. When the count gets underway, post yours in comments here!