Saturday, February 15, 2014
 
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It's time for the Great Backyard Bird Count

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[February 15, 2014]  DECATUR — The Great Backyard Bird Count is in progress Feb. 14-17. There are two ways for citizen scientists to participate:

  1. Go to http://gbbc.birdcount.org/ and create an account to add your own backyard to the 2014 bird count. It is easy. People are participating from all over the world.

  2. Visit the Illinois Raptor Center on Sunday to help count the birds at the education center. The address is 5685 W. Hill Road, Decatur. To avoid frightening the birds away from the feeders, the center asks that everyone use the garage entrance to the lower level. The entrance will be marked with signs.

The IRC Education Center will be open from 9 a.m. to noon with 15-minute counts on the half-hour: 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. Immediately after each counting session, the species, numbers, times and locations will be uploaded to the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

If you are a birder, bring your own binoculars and field guides. If you are a beginning birder, this event will be a great experience for you. Along with a few refreshments and activities, the IRC will have its binoculars, field guides, identification books and a spotting scope for visitors to use during the count. And Jacques Nuzzo, program director, will provide instructions and tips on how to use birding equipment and identify birds.

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The IRC event is free and open to the public.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, with Bird Studies Canada and many international partners. The Great Backyard Bird Count is powered by eBird. The count is made possible in part by founding sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited.

[Text from file received from the Illinois Raptor Center]

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