🐦 HOMESCHOOL NATURE NOTES: The Great Backyard Bird Count in Review

Did your homeschool participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count last month on Washington’s Birthday weekend? The GBBC is a global event sponsored each year by Cornell University and many other natural history organizations, and it attempts to capture a snapshot of the state of bird populations around the world.

The final results of the 2024 Great Backyard Bird Count have now been assembled and you can view them right here:

• ➢ GBBC 2024 – Final Results (birdcount.org)

More than 380,000 checklists (observation reports) were submitted from all around the world during the four days of the count — maybe your checklists were among them — and a total of 7920 species of birds were identified. More than 640,000 people from 210 countries and regions participated in the event. Impressive!

Follow the Final Results link above to see many more details including listings by county and region, fun pictures of many of the participants, and photos and recordings of many of the birds seen, like these beautiful Pied Cormorants from Australia.

If you did submit one or more GBBC checklists, please share them with us in the River Houses! We’re trying out the checklist sharing feature that lets individual birders share their observations with their friends. We’ve created a special River Houses eBird profile that works like a club account: once you’ve completed a checklist of your own, click the “Share” button on that checklist and enter the eBird username riverhouses. That will share your checklist with the River Houses club account, and you in turn will be able to see the checklists that others have shared. (I post one of mine each month at the full moon.) Please give this new feature a try and see how it works!

If you missed this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count, there will another one coming up in February of next year. But there’s no need to wait that long: we think bird study is one of the best activities you can take up in a homeschool setting at any time of year! It’s suitable for all ages, it can be made as elementary or as advanced as you wish, and birds can be found just about anywhere you go. Here are some tips for getting started with homeschool bird study, and here’s an introduction to the standard bird guide we recommend. Start your homeschool bird study adventure today!

What ornithological observations and naturalistical notes have you and your students been making in your homeschool this Leo Term? 😊

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