I thought "spring ahead" meant by one hour, not a whole month

Seems Spring took “spring ahead” literally this year.

Yesterday was March 14th---and it was 76°! We are so ahead of schedule for these temperatures that I’ve had to adjust everything from seed starting, to moving overwintered plants out of my garage & greenhouses, to prepping my ponds for starting up the pumps and filters----all while knowing we’ll probably get an April Fool’s joke in the form of sub-freezing temperatures…which seems to be the way of things anymore.

Many people list Christmas and the holidays as their favorite time of year—but me? I live for the few fleeting weeks of spring when the warblers are warbling, the ground comes alive with plants unfurling in the most artistic ways, the air smells of wet earth, and trees burst out in every color of green imaginable. It’s just so undeniably spectacular, and I’ll never tire of it.

Here's just a couple of the things that I snapped phone pics of this week that are a sure sign that we're moving headlong into spring...

a self-sown hellebore looking lovely at dusk

a vibrant little cyclamen popping up near the rock wall

the first daffodil to bloom this year---crazy considering the forsythia hasn't bloomed yet!

Plants are poppin’ all over the property and my Northern Green frogs are already out of the ponds and vocalizing. I never heard or saw any Wood Frogs in the vernal pools this year—and am worried their population may have collapsed. The bizarre spring weather over the past 4-5 years has resulted in the males and females often arriving at the pools at different times, so no mating occurs. That was the case last year (while 9 egg masses were laid the year prior in 2022)...I fear that if no frogs made it back to the vernals this Feb/Mar, it means that none of adults from last mating season survived to this one.

It's too early in the season for that kind of heartbreak!

I’ve also found that keeping up with the blog during this insanely busy time to be extremely difficult—as can be evidenced by my complete lack of a blog last week (to be fair, the Flaco piece really took a lot out of me as it was so research-heavy…and I was dumb-founded by how many folks responded so positively on Twitter/X—was a really nice surprise!). I'm looking forward to getting back in the groove and reporting on the property as it wakes up, detailing some the projects planned for this year, and giving out as much good info as I can for those who might want to start down the habitat-building path.

Being the temperatures have been so mild, everything is getting a jump on spring. Raccoons, foxes, and opossum have already been highly active (I'm literally listening to a particularly cacophonous territorial dispute between foxes as I type this), and birds are pretty much in full breeding mode---something you've likely noticed, too.

Lots of birdsong in the mornings, and the migration numbers already show birds are moving north earlier---and in some pretty big numbers for mid-March in the Northeast! Hoping to try to get to start getting to sleep at a reasonable hour (which for me is anything before 1:30am) so I can officially get to my first early morning birding of the season in. I would really like to see a Wilson’s Snipe, Eastern Phoebe, or Hermit Thrush this week----all of which should be on the move right now.

If you take a look at Birdcast, you can see the list of what’s expected to be flying over Somerset County this week:

Considering the full push of migration will be upon us soon, I figured it now is the right time to remind everyone about the issue of window-strikes during migration.

One billion birds die from window-strikes and building collisions every year, which is just such a staggering number—and we just don’t have that many birds to lose in such a needless fashion! The issue comes down to two things: lights left on at night during migration periods, and glass not being properly marked to prevent window-strikes.

As far as the first issue—please consider a “lights out” protocol, starting April 1st and lasting through the first week of June (and August through Oct 31st for fall migration). When the sun sets, birds rapidly take flight for the next leg of their migration and it’s known that lights not only disorient birds, but draw them to the source---which is what ends up causing the window-strikes.

If you have outside security or flood lights, either ensure they are on motion timers or look for dark-sky compliant fixtures. My porch light is fitted with a dark-sky fixture, and it cost maybe $50—so they certainly can be gotten for an affordable price. Dark-sky compliant lighting is also good for everything else that needs darkness—so, night pollinators, fireflies, and bats will also very much appreciate you giving them the darkness they need to thrive…and every little bit you can do really does help!

The second issue regarding the bird collisions is the window glass itself—and you might have seen (or already be using) the decals that are often sold for preventing this (you know the ones...dark decals that look look like silhouettes of Chimney Swifts, gulls or bats, and most often shown as just one or two per window )…the issue is that these decals do not work and do not give adequate instructions for the proper application needed in order for them to be effective.

What has been found is that, in order to prevent window-strikes:

• window decals must be spaced NO MORE than 2” apart (so, max gap between decals = 2”)

• must be applied in a pattern that covers the entire glass surface

• must be applied to the outside of the glass

• should be light in color (white, light grey, or light blue) for windows where birds see a reflection

• should be dark color (black, dark grey) for glass that birds try to fly THROUGH (like glass railing panels or other outdoor glass panels/partitions)

• windows should not be lit at night during migration periods

Applying decals to the inside window surface, drawing curtains closed, or closing blinds will not prevent bird strikes----as it's the reflective quality of the outside glass that is the issue. Frankly, if you do not want to do anything to your windows but still want to prevent strikes, your best option is to let your windows get dirty—and don’t clean them until after migration is over—so you can be a little lazy and still help birds!

To better understand the type of decals and application that's necessary to prevent strikes, you can check out companies like Feather-Friendly, (a company that has both DIY options as well as professional installation if you so desire). I’m not affiliated with them, but I do find their product intriguing since the product appears simple enough for the average person to apply (and apply correctly)—and it looks good and is unobtrusive to boot!---much better than those silly birds decals.

Here's a screen cap of an image of how the application looks on their website:

Looks good--right?

They also sell rolls of American Bird Conservancy square window decals, which are a cheaper alternative, but do not last as long (4 years for the American Bird Conservancy decals vs. applications like Feather-Friendly which are rated for 10+ years)—and all I know is, if I’m meticulously applying a bunch or squares or dots to my window, that’s a job I don’t want to repeat very often!

And while I've never had the intention of advertising stuff from my merch site like DirtGirl in my posts, I'm going to make this exception since I do have products with messaging for the "Lights Out" migration campaigns for birds—so if you want something like a garden/house banner, or maybe get posters for your local school or business, please take a look at my Printify "Pop-Up" site (sort of a mini website). It currently features products with the "Lights Out" designs I created to help get the word out. You can access the site here: https://dirtgirl-design.printify.me/

The more I think about the issue of window-strikes, the more I realize that one of the primary reasons it's such a persistent problem is that, while most birders are acutely aware of this being an on-going threat to birds, non-birders and the general populace are absolutely not---with many people having no idea that most birds migrate at night, that windows (lit and unlit) could possibly kill a billion birds every year, or that leaving your lights on at night draws birds to your home/business which make window-strikes all the more likely. And people won't care about what they don’t know about. That's the part we need to change.

And the solutions are so painfully simple! I truly believe more people would take these low-effort actions needed to help if they were just more aware. So, as migration heats up, see what you can do to make sure one billion birds make it safely to their breeding grounds this year--even if it means just letting your windows stay dirty until June.

So, be sure check out the nightly Birdcasts for Somerset County to see who’ll be flying over while you asleep, take a walk outside (if you haven't already) to see what plants are waking up in your yard, think about little things you can do this year to give our wildlife a boost, and most of all---get ready for spring! It's the most wonderful time of the year...

a cute willow catkin bursting with pollen--these remind me of caterpillars!

On Flaco: The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long…

I’d never thought I‘d be reminded of a Blade-runner quote when thinking about an owl, but here we are.

In that film (for those unfamiliar), replicants (sentient biological replicas of humans) were produced by a corporation solely for human use & enjoyment without concern for their feelings or the questionable ethics of bestowing them with expiration dates. I think you’ll see why this theme might have come to mind.

Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-owl that escaped his vandalized enclosure a little more than a year ago and explored freely around NYC (to the absolute delight of New Yorkers and his worldwide fans), died tragically on Feb 24th after suffering what was presumptively determined (according to the initial necropsy report) as “acute traumatic injury”. What ultimately caused his death is still up for debate—a  building/window collision? A fall from a day-time roost due to a poisoning? Some combination of the two perhaps? Only the final toxicology report will tell.

After his assisted escape on Feb 2nd, 2023, Flaco gained near-instant celebrity—and I saw more than one publication refer to him as “the most famous bird in the world”. That’s a pretty insane statement considering before that, he was just another big owl in a too-small enclosure that people briefly shuffled past at the Central Park Zoo.

It’s easy to understand why Flaco became famous in the city he lived in—but didn’t really become a part of—until February 2023.

Firstly, he was a big bird—and big birds are easy for people to see, even without binoculars or fancy telephoto lenses. His name was unique enough without being overly goofy for the average person to use in conversation…do you think he would he have been as popular if he was “The Great Gazoo” or “Floof”? He was also exotic—meaning, he was not just another owl—he was a special owl—one that we don’t have here in the United States.

I would contend that had Flaco been a smaller bird, a less charismatic bird, or just a more “ho-hum” bird, either he would never have been marked for freedom and/or no one outside diehard birders would have really paid much attention. But Flaco was a total package that was hard for people to ignore. He was just a damn gorgeous bird.

As I mentioned in one of my own tweets the morning after his death, it seemed to me that he was a tragic figure long before his escape and subsequent demise.  His loss brought to the fore the many, many failures and missed opportunities that humans have had to do better/do right by our wilder neighbors—both those in captivity as well as the free who do their best to live their lives despite us.  

His story didn’t have to end this way, and yet nearly every birder knew it would end precisely this way, because his story is that of a billion birds or more that live in (or navigate through) human-dominated environments. The moment he left his cage, (and as heart-wrenching as it was to think anticipate), the countdown to his expiration date began.

Yes, he was free—but also free to suffer and endure the perils facing all birds. Many others have already covered those issues thoroughly, but the threats from building/structure/window collisions and poisoning (the two most relevant here) are long-standing problems that birds have faced, with very little headway made to reduce or resolve them over recent decades (despite some solutions being as absurdly simple as turning out lights at night during migration).

I think that was also another reason some may be having a harder time coping with the loss—the death of this handsome and much-loved renegade was not spectacular…or inspiring…or even witnessed. He’d become this almost mythical creature, so when his time came, the manner did not fit his status—like a celebrated daredevil who’s cheated death a thousand times only to meet his end from a drunk driver. He died the death that comes for so many birds…birds with no names and no stories…no followers or events to mark their ends. As dazzling and large his life was outside a cage, his final chapter was a story we’ve sadly read before.

But to be very clear—his life out the cage was indeed thrilling to watch and follow.

Though Flaco was 13 years old when he ventured though the slashed wire of his enclosure, in many ways, he was similar to a fledgling. Previously, his basic needs were attended to by his caretakers, just as his original parents cared for him in the brooding nest. He never needed to evade a predator, find & catch his food, locate a safe roost, or weather a raging storm. Because of that, many assumed his life outside the zoo would be short.

But the heart of several million years of evolution-honed instinct was still beating in this bird just two generations removed from a wild ancestor.

Once freed, Flaco became the bird he always was.

From his first tenuous days, where his undeveloped muscles left him unable to fly more than short distances, to his first successful catch of a live rat, to his eventual ability to deftly navigate among the towering oaks of Central Park as well as the rooftops & water towers of the upper west side, he enthralled us. His year of freedom saw him pack a lifetime of pent-up “owl-hood” into an accelerating display of intelligence, resilience, and resourcefulness, all while being as handsome as all get-out in between. In the weeks before his death, he was often seen and heard hooting from rooftops—a sign he was advertising for a mate—and my heart broke every time I heard it.  And what’s worse, is even if he were to have remained a captive bird, he was pre-destined to never have a mate.

Which brings us closer to where the tragedy for Flaco began.

Flaco was a captive bred bird, and was never intended for wild reintroduction. He was a bird who functionally belonged nowhere. Neither wild, nor tame, he was ill-suited for life within his absurdly small cage and ill-prepared for the world outside it. The life that was chosen for him was to be an object.

The AZA-led program that produces Eurasian Eagle-Owls for zoos and institutions operates on the proposal these birds are being bred for conservation purposes—but a closer look at the program makes that statement somewhat questionable.

When examining the meager documentation on the program, we do see a decent number of birds listed as “ambassador birds”. Science outreach & communication is absolutely a worthy and noble purpose that can be a legitimate goal of a breeding program, where birds are used to educate the public about the species, or threats facing birds in general. For instance, anyone wishing to interact with Flaco’s younger brother Camo (who’ll turn 10 on 4/9 this year), can do so at the Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy in Litchfield, CT—where he enjoys free-flight time, and a large enclosure (also affording him the opportunity to dine on any unlucky rodent who wanders in). But most of the Eurasian Eagle-owls in the AZA breeding program are not ambassador birds, including Flaco.

For birds not slated for outreach purposes, life is a question mark—will you be a bird intended to be a breeding machine?, or will you end up in a zoo (possibly an unaccredited one)?, or find yourself with a private collector? Where you end up may predict the entire course of your life, for better—or sometimes—much worse.

Whiles some zoos have clearly done excellent work in providing appropriate & stimulating environments for their birds and animals, many have not. The idea of shoving a large, intelligent bird like Flaco into the equivalent of a closet to live a life of endless, dispiriting, boredom is a concept that I thought died out with the roadside petting zoo.

It’s unsettling when going through the documents now after Flaco’s passing, especially when you see how these birds are represented, and where he was officially known as “#151”.

You can see where he was noted as “DO NOT BREED.”

You can locate and review the hatch dates and locations of Flaco’s many siblings (i.e. all birds born to his parents Xena and Watson, #84 and #82 respectively). But there’s something even more unsettling as you start to read through and realize these dates and numbers are all real sentient beings, with all of them every bit as interesting and worthy of celebration as Flaco, but no one is telling their stories—or for some, those stories have already ended.

In particular, I noticed bird #150, Flaco’s brother born 3/25/2009 and who died 4/13/2016 at just 7 years old (in what should be the prime of his life) at World Bird. No name is recorded.

Then there’s #243, another Flaco sibling born 3/29/2012 and who died 4/25/2013, just shy of his 1st birthday (again, at World Bird). No one bothered recording the sex of this young bird without a name.

#184 , Flaco’s sister born 6/15/2008,  is not listed among the living birds but it’s quite possible she’s alive and the owner simply opted out of the AZA breeding program. We have no idea what happened to her or where she may be, as the last piece of information listed is shown as a “transfer” and the recipient shown as ”Unknown”.

Flaco’s closest sibling, #185, was a female born just 3 months after Flaco on 6/15/2010 and is presumed to be owned by a professional falconer on the east coast. The falconer is also shown to have received Flaco’s younger male sibling, #254, born 4/9/2014. Whether he still has possession of these birds or whether they are both alive is unknown.

The other worrying aspect that became more obvious when looking through the program documentation available was that the data is a mess. Wrong names, or different names for the same bird ID found in the same document, the incredibly curious repeat of certain dates given for births or deaths (with 6/15 being a date seen repeatedly and likely some sort of dummy data), and dates of death listed yet nowhere for the causes to be captured. I find this last particular point strange in the context of scientific research…if these birds are being bred for superior genetics, wouldn’t they want to know if a bird died of some disorder, disease, or due to a possible inherited genetic issue?  Isn’t this the point of their breeding operations—to produce healthier birds?

Sinbad and Martina (Flaco’s maternal grandparents) were noted in a recent article as being deceased—but in the Population Analysis & Breeding and Transfer Plan document, dated July 18th 2017, they were listed in the breeding matrix. If they passed away, it occurred after 2017. I suppose it’s possible newer versions of these documents exist and/or are no longer available publicly (which is ideally the case), but there is no indication I have seen anywhere that indicates this. If 2017 is truly the last year this data was updated and disseminated, it would seem that 6+ years is a lot of time to avoid recording anything about birds involved in an ongoing breeding program. However, if these documents are at all indicative of the integrity of the data going into the research subjects, I can’t imagine that the output is very reliable.

Some of the perplexing data issues I ran across…

Here we have #149 (another Flaco sibling) listed as “Stan” in the studbook but as “Esmerelda” in breeding plan document.

Next we have birds #199 and #200. Owl #199 (a Flaco sibling) is listed in the studbook as “Aurora”, but in the breeding analysis document, we see this bird listed as a male bird named “Amaru”. We can see that “Aurora” is actually a female with ID #200.

But the above gets worse! We see “Aurora” now mixed up with “Morrissey” in the studbook, and “Morrissey” mixed up with “Boston” (all of these birds are Flaco siblings).

But by far, the most interesting document was this page from the Sustainability Report:

This one page tells us so much information. We see that “Urban” type habitat is a known biome for the Eurasian Eagle-owl—perhaps why Flaco was able to adapt so easily to NYC? We also see this species listed with the IUCN status of “Least Concern”—meaning conservation measures and interventions are NOT necessarily required, so why do we really have this aggressive breeding program to begin with? These birds are very popular with private collectors, so I think the answer may be as clear as it looks.

We also see the housing/enclosure recommendations: 400 sq ft minimum, and best housed in pairs! Yet another way Flaco was failed.

Then we notice the section marked “Messaging Opportunities”, where “Human-wildlife conflict” is listed…for not being deemed “worthy” of being an ambassador bird, I think Flaco delivered this message more effectively than any other bird could. But also on this list is the word “Reintroduction”, meaning these birds are being used for that purpose. Yet, on the very next page, we see it…there under the section “Reintroduction”:

“A handful of reintroductions of captive bred owls have occurred in Europe. There is no need, however, for AZA-bred birds to be utilized in any future introduction programs.”

And there it is.

A breeding & reintroduction program that does all breeding, no reintroduction.

So, this whole thing—Flaco’s life, all these birds lives—managed and manipulated to simply produce birds for WHAT?

After reading this, my heart has broken for Flaco (again), as well as every bird detailed in these pages. So many lives reduced to just numbers, stats, and almost assuredly---$$$. Yes, I’m sure some live vibrant lives and have wonderfully attentive care at whatever facility or institution may hold them—but it would seem that would be the exception, not the rule. We need to change this and we must do better.

And there was one last thing I saw flipping through the pages: these birds live much shorter lives than what I’ve seen reported. I even repeated those same incorrect statistics—that wild birds could be expected to live to 20 and captive birds to 60—after reading it repeatedly, but after seeing the data from the AZA, this is clearly incorrect.

For 62 birds with both birth & death records, nearly a quarter in the breeding program died in their first twelve months; 53% died before the age of 10, and 76% of captive birds didn’t live to age 20! I think I need to track down exactly where this misinformation on life expectancy originated, as it doesn’t appear to be supported by the data from the AZA breeding program. If this data can be relied upon (and maybe it can’t), it would seem the Flaco may have in fact lived close to his maximum longevity—which makes his final year of being the badass owl he was always meant to be all the more glorious. It also makes his 12 years of dismal captivity all the more egregious.

Flaco has now become a legend—and rightfully earned. He captivated and fascinated us, ostensibly by doing nothing more than doing “owly” things, against the odds where the deck was stacked against him from the start. It’s amazing he was able to pull it off as long as he did—extraordinary in fact. But that wild heart still beat in him—and we got to witness the life he was denied by the circumstance of his birth. He told us his story—and how I wish other owls in this program (as well as all animals relegated to lifetime captivity) could be free to tell us theirs. He will not be forgotten—and what he’s brought to light cannot be ignored.

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long…and you have burned so very, very brightly, Flaco.

Source Links:

Population Analysis & Breeding and Transfer Plan - Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), AZA Species Survival Plan®., Yellow Program

http://www.raptortag.com/uploads/9/6/8/4/96841132/owl_eurasian_eagle_-_yellow_ssp_2017_final.pdf

AZA Studbook for Eurasian Eagle-Owl

http://www.raptortag.com/uploads/9/6/8/4/96841132/owleurasianeaglestudbook2017.pdf

Sustainability Report

http://www.raptortag.com/uploads/9/6/8/4/96841132/eeo_sustainability_report.pdf

Website

http://www.raptortag.com/eurasian-eagle-owl-ssp.html

Links to Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy: https://www.ripleyconservancy.org/

The Joy of eBird

a view of the eBird mobile app

It’s time to talk about one of my favorite things-- eBird. Birders reading this are likely already eBird and Merlin users. But for those who don’t really consider themselves birders and just fall under the “sure, I like birds” category, I can’t recommend these two tools/apps enough. eBird is a free mobile and web app developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology which enables users to quickly record bird observations as checklists. I can say with certainty that eBird is what turned me INTO a birder and what makes me a better birder every year.

So how exactly did that happen? I originally wanted a better way to keep track of species I was recording for our habitat and was seriously tired of hand writing lists and loading them into an excel sheet. At the time, I was only recording my first encounters with each species each season and sometimes the last date I encountered them for the year. This is nice info, but in a spreadsheet form, it’s not very interesting and frankly doesn’t tell you much…and there’s nothing like working in a spreadsheet to turn whatever fun you had collecting the info into absolute joyless, tedious misery.

First and foremost, eBird makes collecting the data simple. It wasn’t long before I was entering checklists with glee each time something new popped up in the yard. But then something happened…I realized that because it was soooo easy, maybe if I collected just a little bit more, I could begin to see true patterns for all the species that visit—which made me want to be more consistent. So, I started entering complete checklists (meaning, you catalog and count every bird species seen/present for whatever time period you observed, whether it’s 5 mins or 5hrs).

After I got the hang of that, I wanted even MORE data—as in, I wanted observations recorded every single day (sometimes multiple times a day) so I could get a sense of just how many birds were visiting the habitat (or could be expected to be here) for any given time of year. With eBird, I could easily download this data or view it as monthly bar charts for each species—specific to my exact location—which was pretty incredible. Suffice it to say I was hooked.

A snippet of the yearly bar chart for the species for our habitat location

While most birders think of eBird as their tool for when they’re “going birding”, the data collected by those observing birds at their residence/yard is considered some of the most desirable and valuable data for eBird to collect, since it’s from a specific defined small area and collected by the same observer over a long period of time. The consistency of observations and extensive time range for a location gives eBird tremendous amounts of information regarding species density and abundance, migration timing, ranges, and habitat composition. They target complete checklists collected from yards and “patches” like these to build amazing reports and animations for species range, abundance and migration maps. Of course when I first started doing my checklists, I didn’t know any of this at the time and thought that counts & checklists from a tiny site like mine would be of little interest—but the reality is quite the opposite.

In Dec 2022, I received an email from Team eBird which notified me that my observation data was selected to contribute to their Status and Trends project, and they ingested my data for 218 species—which represented over 10% of the total species studied for the project!

An eBird animation showing migration pattern and abundance of the Baltimore Oriole for every week of the year

That was a real turning point for me—because it really wasn’t until that moment that I realized that my checklists and observations mattered—they have real tangible value, and I could see the result of those checklists in the migration animations and trend maps. These maps give the clearest, most detailed and accurate view into what is truly happening in regard to our bird populations. Every bit of information you can collect gives a voice to birds.

Simply put—the observations you make in eBird directly contribute to our knowledge of birds and provide critical information for identifying species and habitats needing conservation. If that’s not a reason to take up eBird, I don’t know what is! It's true citizen science—and I’m extremely proud to be part of it. You can check out some of these incredible visualizations from the Status and Trends at science.ebird.org

Now, you might think, “I don’t have many birds” or “I see the same ones all the time”, so wonder how could your observation could possibly be of value—but it very much is! Even when you don’t see any birds or don’t have much to report—that’s still important data. The absence of something is just as critical to show & include in data as the presence of something, because it can point to trends indicating species decline. If you counted an average of 24 Northern Cardinals in your yard every January for the last 5 years, but then you counted only 8 in January this year, and maybe 10 the next and 6 the year after, that absolutely tells us something is going on which is causing that area’s population of birds to crash.

An eBird Status Trend map with the data revealing significant Wood Thrush declines throughout the Northeast

There is also something that happens when you commit to using a tool like eBird—you get more attentive. You start seeing more species because you’re actively looking more—and realize you have more birds around than you thought. Once you add binoculars, you’ll understand something else: the birds you think you’re seeing aren’t always what you thought!

If you glanced out a window and saw a bunch of White-throated Sparrows and House Sparrows on the ground, you’re likely to assume all those sparrows are one of those two species. A closer look with binoculars might tell you that in actuality there were 35 birds in total—and along with the sparrows mentioned above, there were actually 9 House Finches, 2 Song Sparrows and 1 Chipping sparrow mixed in. That’s a big difference in the variety of species compared to your assumption, and also means you misidentified over 25% of the birds when doing just a quick glance.

When I saw the wayward Dickcissel here in February a few years ago, I nearly made the exact mistake mentioned above. It was a snowy year and we had hundreds of sparrows here. Glancing outside, it looked like the typical daily mix of House Sparrows and White-throated sparrows feeding on seed I scattered…but, when I looked with binoculars—there was the Dickcissel! Not only was this a “lifer” bird for me, but it was a very rare bird for this location in winter. From distance, it’s nearly indistinguishable from our common sparrows…I never would have identified it had I not looked with binoculars (and eventually got a photo through the window).

So even if you don’t consider yourself a birder, you can still contribute a LOT to the knowledge of birds and their conservation by simply collecting short, simple info from your own yard—with as little as 5-10 minutes a day.

And if you do end up giving eBird a try, I also recommend Merlin (a sort of “sister” app to eBird), which allows you to record bird songs and identify the birds singing in real time. It’s not 100% perfect (such as when it “identified” a Northern Cardinal singing when I was in Puerto Rico!), but it’s always improving---and it’s exceptionally easy to use. Again, you might be surprised by what you have around (and that birdsong you think is coming from a Robin might actually be a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak or a Warbling Vireo!). It’s absolutely one of my favorite apps to use in spring (especially for identifying some of those darn sound-alike warbler songs!) If you're a non-birder who ends up trying eBird, I'd love to hear about it!