HOW TO COUNT THE BIRDS:

  1. Count birds from your backyard, balcony, porch or  window for AT LEAST 15 minutes, but you may count as long as you wish during the count period starting at 8AM on April 22, and finishing 4PM on April 26.
  2. Make your best guess of what species you saw, how many individual birds you saw, and how long you watched.  
  3. Enter your observations online here, or complete the attached paper form and share it with us. Submit a new checklist for:
    1. Each new day
    2. Each new location
    3. Same day, same location if counted at a different time of day.
  4. When submitting your observations, you will be submitting using a google form and you will have to sign in using your WRDSB login.
  5. The first question will be ‘Where did you count birds?’ Please pick from the drop-down menu either Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge or the appropriate Township. 
  6. You will be asked for the date – please pick the date from the drop down menu.
  7. We would like to know when you observed your birds – please tell us when you started observing and when you stopped.
  8. On the form you will be given a list of the most common yard birds in the Waterloo Region District School Board.  If you only observed them, but didn’t count how many individuals, put an x in the box.  If you counted how many individuals of each species please enter the number observed into the box. If you observed a species that is not listed, please write it in as an ‘Other’, give the name and enter how many.
  9. Please share with us your experience.  Write a short description of what you did in the comments section.  Did you see something you weren’t expecting? Were you surprised by anything?
  10. When you are done, click the ‘Submit’ button! You should see a confirmation page that will give you the option of changing your submission if you think you made an error.
  11. Please share a photo of your birding experience (especially interesting bird pictures) by email or social media. 
  12. If you observe birds again during the count period, submit another checklist!

 

Please read and remember to follow our Birding Ethics guidelines so that we can all participate in a way that is safe, not only for ourselves but our community and nature as well.

 

Thank you!