RICHMOND, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW/VIRGINIA NEWS CONNECTION) – This weekend, Virginians are participating with other birders around the world in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Thousands of birding enthusiasts count birds seen in their local areas, even within walking distance of their home or in sight of their bird feeders. People need to watch birds for 15 minutes in one location and submit their identified birds to e-bird, a database developed by the Cornell Ornithology Lab and the National Audubon Society.

Max Goldman, statewide access coordinator for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, said it is important to count birds during the winter months. Traditionally, he said, conservation efforts have only focused on breeding times in the spring.

“Wintering kind of fell by the wayside for a long time, even though, from a conservation perspective, you have to have areas for these birds to spend each part of their life cycle over a year,” Goldman explained. “If one of those areas is threatened for whatever reason — the resources are threatened or the area itself disappears — then you’ve got a real problem with the survivability of those species.”

In 2024, more than 200 countries participated in the count, identifying nearly 8,000 species of birds worldwide. Nearly 650,000 people participated in last year’s bird count, which is three times the number of people who took part a decade ago. Goldman noted the count works well for those who are just getting started in their interest in birds.

“It’s a really interesting way for people who are new birders to report the birds that are in their backyard or that are in the areas that they already go,” Goldman pointed out. “Focus on birds during a time of year when they otherwise wouldn’t and to contribute to a really robust, large and important data set.”

From the 2023 to 2024 counts, 45% of countries saw a 100% increase in submissions. Click here for all the Bird Count information.