Great Backyard Bird Count 2027: Dates and How to Join

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a four-day bird count held every February, open to anyone anywhere in the world. The 2027 count runs February 12-15 and is the 30th, according to Audubon. It is run jointly by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Birds Canada.

Its purpose, as Birds Canada puts it, is to help scientists better understand global bird populations ahead of spring migration. Audubon describes the result as a real-time snapshot of bird populations. The scale is large: Birds Canada reports that in 2026 more than a million participants recorded over 8,000 species.

You do not need to be an expert, and despite the name you do not need a backyard. A park, a balcony or a walk counts.

Birds Canada gives two steps, and the details below come from the same page.

• Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once during the four days.
• Identify every bird you see or hear, then share the list.
• Beginners: save your sightings in Merlin Bird ID.
• Experienced birders: use the eBird app or website and record how many individuals of each species you saw.
• No registration: all entries saved to Merlin or eBird during the four-day period count toward the Great Backyard Bird Count automatically.

Write down where you counted and for how long. A list with a start time, a duration and a location is what makes the data usable.

A count is only as good as its names, and February brings a few predictable traps at feeders:

• Downy vs Hairy Woodpecker: compare the bill with the head; see woodpecker identification.
• Cooper's vs Sharp-shinned Hawk: the hawk that hunts at the feeder; see hawk identification.
• House Finch vs House Sparrow, juncos in regional forms: see backyard birds.

Photograph any bird you are unsure of. BirdLens suggests the species from the photo, and the page for that species lists the look-alike to rule out. If you still cannot settle it, leave the bird off the list rather than guess; a missing bird costs the count less than a wrong one.

If the four days leave you wanting more, Project FeederWatch is the longer version. It is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada, the season starts November 1 and runs through April, and you can count every week or once all winter.

Unlike the Great Backyard Bird Count, it has a fee: $18 a year for US residents, while Canadians take part by donating any amount to Birds Canada. It began in the winter of 1987-88, when more than 4,000 people enrolled.