This burrowing owl isn’t in a backyard but if you find one next weekend you can count it in the Great Backyard Bird Count. This global event runs Friday, February 16 through Monday, February 19, 2018. You can count birds anywhere!
It’s easy to participate. If you’re already on eBird, just enter your checklists and the Great Backyard Bird Count will scoop up the data.
If you’ve never participated (or you haven’t done so since 2012) follow the easy steps here: Get Started.
Bonus for photographers: Submit your photos to the GBBC Photo Contest.
Most of us will count backyard birds, especially if the weather is bad. In Pittsburgh we’re sure to see chickadees. Trick question: Are they black-capped or Carolina?
(click the link for the answer)
(photos by Chuck Tague and Marcy Cunkelman)
Many years ago, during the first season of Project Feederwatch, I notified them that I lived in the “mixed” area and might see either black-capped or Carolina chickadees, or possibly a mixed flock. They modified their counting instructions to simply count “chickadees” in the border area. I’m glad to see that I am no longer a border resident. Apparently all my chickadees are Carolinas.
An additional complication is that some Black-capped Chickadees move south of their breeding distribution in winter. These birds are typically in their first year. Hybrids may do the same. That means that even south of the contact zone, one might have pure Carolina Chickadees, pure Black-capped Chickadees, and their hybrids, all in the same backyard during the winter!