Great Backyard Bird Count 2012 – Complete!

What a great weekend of bird watching we had as we participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count! We have finished our counting and I thought I would post our results.

1. Western Scrub Jay 2
2. Oak Titmouse 2
3. White-breasted Nuthatch 2
4. Spotted Towhee 2
5. White-crowned Sparrow 10
6. Dark Eyed Junco 11
7. House Finch 10
8. House Sparrow 14
9. California Towhee 1
10. American Robin 42
11. American Crow 3
12. Anna’s Hummingbird 3
13. Nuttall’s Woodpecker 1
14. Mourning Dove 5
15. Northern Flicker 1
16. Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
17. Western Bluebirds 4
18. Lesser Goldfinches 4

You can see more images of our backyard birds in this post: December Bird List with Two New Birds .

We compared our numbers to the last three year’s numbers and there is virtually no change. The only significant bird missing from our list is the Cedar Waxwing. We usually have a flock come through during the GBBC weekend and this year we did not. We were talking about why that may be and the only piece of information that may be significant is that every other year we have had at least one day of snow on the GBBC weekend. We have not seen the flocks of Cedar Waxwings that we usually see this time of year come through yet. What does that mean? Maybe nothing but it is worthy of noting.

Our family really enjoys the bird count each year and now that we are participating in Project Feederwatch we have become very good at recognizing our feeder birds. Learning to identify your backyard birds is easy and you can take it one bird at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed and make it fun for the family.

Bird Outdoor Hour Challenges
There is a series of bird nature study challenges here on my blog. Each challenge helps your family get to your own backyard birds. I invite you to use these free challenges as a way to develop a love of birds in your family.

There is a wealth of birding information on the internet but I have not found a more homeschool-friendly site than the ones sponsored by Cornell University. I would love to encourage you all to subscribe to their homeschool blog (click the logo above to pop over there now).

• You can also follow them on Facebook .
• You can download their FREE Homeschool Guide to Project Feederwatch.
• Of course, my favorite resource is their AllAboutBirds website which is a great tool for identifying and learning more about birds in your own neighborhood.