Welcome to the Four Harbors Audubon Society Bird Monitoring page. Here you can access bird counts from our walks as well as the counts from the CBC (Christmas Bird Count) and our yearly Waterfowl Counts. In addition, you can find information on sightings of tagged birds which we reported in our territory and any responses from the various agencies we have reported our tagged sightings to.
Winter Wren Photo Credit: Robin Ohrt
Great Backyard Bird Count
February 16-19, 2024
What is it?
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual Community Science program where people around the world record the number and species of birds they observe in their backyards,
local nature preserves, or favorite birdwatching sites, over a four-day weekend. The sightings are reported to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon
Society, using e-Bird or the Merlin app.
The GBBC data is then used to determine how birds are surviving the winter,
and where they are located prior to the spring migration in March through May. The data is also used with other data, and surveys collected at other times, to estimate populations of birds, and collect other information, like locations where many birds use as stopovers on migration, wintering grounds or summer breeding areas. Using this data from year to year also helps determine whether a species has a heathy population, if they are thriving, or if their numbers are in decline.
What can you do?
Spend a little time in your favorite places, watching birds, and then tell us what you saw. In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify their species, count them, and submit them to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world. If you are already using eBird or Merlin, your submissions over the 4-day period will already counts towards GBBC.
For those new to GBBC: How to Participate
If you are NEW to bird watching and bird identification and have a smartphone, we recommend you use the Merlin Bird ID app to enter your first bird. It is FREE and easy to use.
Participation can be done anywhere you see birds. It’s easy and fun to do in a group or alone.
Step 1: Choose a place, or places, you can watch birds.
Step 2: At least one time during the dates of February 16-19, watch birds for 15 minutes or more,at each place you’ve chosen.
Step 3: Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location. Use your chosen tool for sharing your bird sightings. If you have just started to learn the birds that are in your area, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing.
If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, you may also use the eBird Mobile app, or enter your bird list on the eBird website from your laptop or desktop computer.
If you already contribute to Merlin or eBird, continue what you are doing, but please make sure you observe birds in each area for at least 15 minutes and count only the highest number of each bird species you have seen at one time. All entries over the 4-days count towards GBBC.
NY Breeding Bird Atlas III
Would you like to be involved in an important Community Science effort currently taking place in New York State? Now is your chance! Join thousands of other birders who are participating in the NYS Breeding Bird Atlas III, a survey, conducted from 2020 to 2024, of breeding birds throughout the state. All you need do is bird as usual anywhere from local hotspots to your own backyard, carefully observe, make note of breeding bird behavior, and submit your observations through the eBird Breeding Bird Atlas portal. The data you collect automatically becomes part of the BBA database providing an invaluable source of information indicating trends in species distribution and population.
Learn more about the third Breeding Bird Atlas.
Other questions? Contact us.
Baltimore Oriole
photo: Patrice Domeischel
Flicker and Young photo: Patrice Domeischel
Peregrine Falcon photo: Peter Green (www.providenceraptors.com) and Patrice Domeischel
Banded Piping Plover, West Meadow Beach photo:Joanna Watson
Banding projects designed to study epic hemispheric journeys of migratory shorebirds have been underway since the mid 1990s. In recent years, various species have been marked with leg flags bearing three-character codes (for example, ABC, A1C) allowing identification of individuals with spotting scopes. The combination of banding and resighting data allows greater understanding of the habitat uses and needs of shorebirds, many of which are imperiled.
Your resightings count! In addition to the scientific database, it's interesting and exciting to find out about local resightings - learn more about the Peregrine Falcon! Go to www.bandedbirds.org to learn resighting techniques, and then click on Report Resighting to enter your data. These reports are added directly to an active database maintained by a consortium of research groups. Obtain immediate feedback about the known journey of the specific bird(s) you have resighted. Whether yours is the first report or one of many for a single individual, each resighting contributes to our ability to conserve these species.
Tagged Ring-billed Gull photo: Joy Cirigliano
Banded Canada Geese, Avalon Preserve photo:Gil Yang
Misery Point Photo: Patrice Domeischel
Nashville Warbler photo: Patrice Domeischel
Waterfowl Count, Joy Cirigliano photo: Patrice Domeishel
Brant raft Stony Brook Harbor photo: Joy Cirigliano
Winter peeps photo: Patrice Domeischel
Christmas Bird Count
This past year, December 14, 2019 through January 5, 2020 was the National Audubon Society's 120th Christmas Bird Count. The CBC is the nation's longest-running citizen science bird project. Data collection is the main focus of the count, and has been since the tradition began on Christmas Day in 1900 when ornithologist Frank Chapman, concerned about declining bird populations, decided to do a bird census rather than the traditional Christmas "Side Hunt” that was the holiday tradition of the day. He organized 27 dedicated birders, and 25 counts were held that day totaling around 90 species in all.
There are counts conducted all over the Americas during this count period, each within a 15-mile diameter circle. These counts are for a 24-hour period within a count circle that has a specified date and territory, and is supervised by a designated compiler.
Four Harbors is one of many “teams” that participate in the Smithtown Christmas Count. In order to collect consistent data, there are very specific routes assigned by the compiler to each team. Unlike our usual bird walks, the CBC day is a quick, fast-paced 24 hours, where we collect as much data as possible within a limited amount of time.
Take a look at the Christmas Bird Counts. Data compiled by Luci Betti-Nash, Team Leader for the Four Harbors circle of the Smithtown CBC. For more information on Christmas Bird Counts please contact her at fourharborsaudubonsociety@gmail.com
Winter Waterfowl Count
Every January, we do the winter waterfowl count for the New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA) which, in turn, works with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Volunteers visit lakes, ponds, and rivers, and our shores to count ducks, geese, and other waterfowl.
State-wide results are printed in NYSOA’s publication, The Kingbird. In most years, more than a quarter of a million birds are tallied in NYS. In addition to being an enjoyable outing, DEC has acknowledged this to be a useful survey for long-term monitoring of waterfowl populations wintering in New York. So, join us and see what you can find at the next count.
See our Jan 2020 Winter Waterfowl Counts.
Another way to help with waterfowl conservation is to Buy a yearly Federal Duck Stamp. Buying Federal Duck Stamps is among the simplest ways that we can participate in wildlife and habitat conservation. Duck Stamps are a required annual purchase for waterfowl hunters 16 and older, but, more interestingly, birdwatchers, conservationists, and outdoor and wildlife enthusiasts also purchase one each year. A current duck stamp grants the bearer free entrance into any National Wildlife Refuge that charges an entry fee. But whether you are a hunter, birder, environmentalist, other outdoors enthusiast or you simply want to help preserve our natural resources for future generations to enjoy, you can contribute to conservation by buying Duck Stamps.
Purple Sandpiper photo: Patrice Domeischel
Christmas Bird Count photo: Patrice Domeischel
Waterfowl Count, Kathleen Coyle photo: Patrice Domeishel
IBA Niss River Mouth photo: Joy Cirigliano
