Across the globe, birders prepare for the big count

• The Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb. 14-17
• The global bird count monitors bird migrations and indicates the health of the birds%27 environment
• Last year%2C 34.5 million birds were counted and 4%2C000 species were recorded

Birders of all ages will step outside this weekend to take part in a global bird survey.

People from over 100 countries are expected to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, running Friday through Monday. Using the information from the count, scientists monitor global migrations of bird populations and gauge the overall health of species.

People can count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or all four days of the bird count in as many places as they choose and enter their sightings at www.birdcount.org. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.

The effort logged more than 34.5 million birds and almost 4,000 species last year. Gary Langham, Audubon's chief scientist, says he hopes participants will record even higher numbers this year.

"People commonly have the misconception that if you are not an expert on birds you can't bring meaningful information to the table," Langham says. "This creates no barrier to entry. Anyone can go outside and watch birds for 15 minutes or more, and all that information is accumulated into one database."

John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, says organizers revamped the bird count entry portal to sync with eBird, Cornell's online checklist and one of the world's largest bird databases, last year. The integration allows the Great Backyard Bird Counters to pinpoint the birds' exact locations instead of using ZIP codes, and to upload the data from their checklists directly to the global database.

Fitzpatrick says the four-day count provides invaluable information on the environment as well.

"Birds are superb barometers for environmental condition," Fitzpatrick says. "When habitats are degraded, bird populations change, and when they are healthy the bird populations grow."

Fitzpatrick says this year they hope the data will show whether the rusty blackbird's populations continue to decline, and whether populations of snowy owls are still creeping from the Northwest eastward across the country.

As for the count falling over Valentine's Day weekend, Langham encourages lovebirds to participate.

"There's no bad time to take a walk and count the birds," he says.