Zoroark Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 Does anyone else here contribute to Project FeederWatch? I did it last winter and am doing it again this winter. It's definitely a bit different than just doing a normal count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birds are cool Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 10 hours ago, Zoroark said: It's definitely a bit different than just doing a normal count. How is it different? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted December 13, 2022 Author Share Posted December 13, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said: How is it different? Thanks. https://feederwatch.org/about/detailed-instructions/ Instead of just going into your yard, watching birds for a few minutes, and noting what you see and hear, you have to specifically only count birds seen around your feeder site (including predators and tag-alongs), can't count obvious males/females separately (to keep the methodology consistent across species), have to combine the high counts between two days, and must wait a few days before doing another count. The scope of the project is to measure the impact of bird-feeding across North America and track population variance. Edited December 13, 2022 by Zoroark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirVive Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 My family did for many years when I was younger - I would again but I don't have enough of a predictable schedule to watch around the same time each week 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I would but I don’t have a feeder or a good yard so… question: in theory could you use someone else’s yard as a count site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 @SirVive If I have a busy workweek and can't watch on my days, I may push them to the first two days where I can watch, then I just make those my regular watch days until it happens again. For instance, this year I started off watching on Wednesday and Thursday. I went to California the second week and came back on a Tuesday, so I continued watching on those two days. A very busy week in early January pushed them to Sunday and Monday, where they remain. Here's how this season has gone so far: @Snake Fingers Indeed, you could watch someone else's yard if you're there frequently enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 @Zoroark, thanks! It sounds creepy tho, oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birds are cool Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 I don't have any neighbors with a feeder or a feeder so I couldn't participate even if I wanted to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyanocitta cristata Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Isn't it counterintuitive that you have to pay for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoroark Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 @Quiscalus quiscula@Cyanocitta cristata They covered that question on the site. In a nuthatch-shell, it's part of a donation to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to cover administration costs for the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestranger Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 @Cyanocitta cristata said Quote Isn't it counterintuitive that you have to pay for it? Welcome to Whatbird, Cyanocitta cristata. I had no idea that you had to pay to participate in any of the science based bird counting events, especially events held in your own backyard. I understand the need to raise funds to keep things operating, I just didn't know they did their fundraising this way. I could see the fee causing hesitation amongst some bird watchers. If people struggle to pay for birdseed, having to pay to count the birds that eat that seed might be a bit too much for some. It's too bad that some good data is likely to be lost because of the $. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Fingers Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) @lonestranger, I didn’t know you had to pay for it either. I agree, Oh well I guess I won’t be able to do it. Edited February 14 by Snake Fingers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBAS Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 I've done PFW the past two seasons. I try to do 4-5 hrs per two-day counting period . . . last week I had three species (house sparrow, house finch, bc chickadee). It was horribly boring, by far the fewest species I've had in a count. Overall, I enjoy doing it and have seen plenty of interesting interactions. Cannot wait for spring migration! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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