10th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb. 16-19 The 10th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb. 16-19. Hosted by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, this national event provides an opportunity for everyone to help with a research project. Researchers at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology need your help to determine where birds are living during the winter. Watch for birds in your backyard, then go to the web site www.birdsource.org/gbbc to report the birds that you saw. Come to the Bird Count Kick-off at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Grand Forks Park District Office, 1210 Seventh Ave. S., where Dave Lambeth will give a bird identification presentation. Encourage your friends and family to participate. Science is for everyone with the Dakota Science Center. What mid-winter activity is fun, easy, free, and helps bird conservation? What can parents and teachers do with children that connects them to a whole new world of natural wonders? People of all ages, from beginners to experts, are invited to join this event which spans all of the United States and Canada. Participants can take part wherever they are – at home, in schoolyards, at local parks or wildlife refuges. Observers simply count the highest number of each species they see during an outing or a sitting, and enter their tally on the Great Backyard Bird Count web site at www.birdsource.org/gbbc. Visitors to the web site can also compare their sightings with results from other participants, as checklists pour in from throughout the U.S. and Canada. Together, these counts offer a real-time snapshot of the numbers and kinds of birds that people are finding, from boreal chickadees in Alaska to anhingas in Florida.Last year, participants submitted more than 60,000 checklists – and reported 7.5 million birds overall and 623 different species. The count helped chronicle the early spring migratory routes of sandhill cranes, documented lingering migrants such as orange-crowned warblers and tree swallows, revealed the ongoing range expansion of introduced Eurasian collared-doves, and recorded declining numbers of American crows. The Great Backyard Bird Count web site offers identification tips and access to photos, sounds, maps, and natural history information on more than 500 bird species. People can also submit photos to an online gallery showcasing the dazzling array of winter birds found during the GBBC. For more information, visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc. Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in conservation.The Mission of the Dakota Science Center is to encourage lifelong curiosity and fascination with science in children, parents, teachers, and the community through discovery, exploration and interaction.