• The Great Backyard Bird Count (birdcount.org), February 14-17, 2026, is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org.

  Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world. Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share.

  Last year, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

• Shifting and Changing Populations

Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2014 GBBC data highlighted a large irruption of Snowy Owls across the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes areas of the United States. The data also showed the effects that warm weather patterns have had on bird movement around the country.

National Results - GBBC 2025 in a Snapshot:

• 8,078 species of birds identified

• 217 countries or eBird subregions

• 387,652 eBird checklists

• 655,549 Merlin Bird IDs (step-by-step, sound, or photo)

• 189,741 photos, videos, and sounds added to Macaulay Library

• 838,113 estimated global participants

• 409 reported community events