Project Feeder Watch - ornithological research group - Brief Article

Flower & Garden Magazine, Jan, 2000 by Jennifer Curry

As their gardens retreat under snow, most gardeners turn away from their backyards and flip through garden design books or magazines in the comfort of their own home. Your foliage may have shriveled, but ornithologists hope you remember that your backyard wildlife still thrives.

Project FeederWatch allows ornithologists the opportunity to study data collected by everyday bird enthusiasts and use that information to determine shifts in the size and location of bird populations.

Participants in Project FeederWatch have already provided scientific data on bird populations. During the 1993-94 winter season, feeder watchers in Maryland and Virginia reported seeing house finches with crusty, red, swollen eyes. Feeder watchers had spotted a deadly epidemic of mycomplasmal conjunctivitis.

Though the disease claimed nearly half of the house finch population on the East Coast, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology were able to learn a great deal about the way a disease moves within a population. The study of the movement of this disease proved so valuable that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has begun a year-round house finch disease survey that also utilizes backyard bird enthusiasts.

Laura Kammermeier of Project FeederWatch explains that ornithologists would not have been able to track the disease as well without the assistance of what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology calls "citizen scientists." Simply put--ornithologists can't be everywhere. Residents collecting information in their neighborhoods can amass significant amounts of important data.

During the winter season, participants note the number and species of birds at their feeders two consecutive days of every two-week period. Though many participants -- such as home schools and retirees--may have more time to dedicate to feeder watching, bird enthusiasts with 9 to 5 jobs can participate, offering whatever amount of time and insight they can to feeder watching.

Participants pay an annual fee of $19, all of which is used to help maintain Project FeederWatch. The program was initially started with grant money, but now the continued collection of information on North American bird populations is supported primarily by backyard bird enthusiasts.

For all the assistance that feeder watchers provide ornithologists regularly, Project FeederWatch rewards participants with educational materials; participants also receive an annual report and quarterly newsletters that detail the discoveries they helped ornithologists make.

For more information about Project FeederWatch, tips on bird identification, results from previous seasons or joining the Project, visit the Project FeederWatch website at at http://bird source.cornell.edu/pfw/. You can also contact the Project by mail or e-mail at the following addresses for United States and Canadian residents:

US residents: Project FeederWatch PO Box 11 Ithaca, NY 14851-0011 FeederWatch@cornell.edu

Canadian residents: Project FeederWatch PO Box 160 Port Rowan, Ontario N0E 1M0 pfw@nornet.on.ca