By Ann Bush
Citizens are invited to join the world in connecting to birds for four days each February, when people of all ages and backgrounds participate in one of the largest global citizen scientist projects in the world — all from the comfort of their backyard.
Created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count (CBBC) was the first online community science project in North America to collect data on wild birds. Birds Canada joined the project in 2009. Soon, eBird was created, a non-profit organization where birdwatchers can post their findings online on a global data bank. By 2013, the popular project grew to become the world’s largest global bio-diversity-related citizen science effort. According to Oxford Languages, a citizen scientist is “a member of the general public who collects and analyzes data relating to the natural world, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists.”
From February 6 through the 13 in 2026, bird enthusiasts of all levels watch and count birds they find in their backyards and report the statistics to the Cornell Lab. Participants can watch the video on their website to learn more about the count. Universities plus environmental and avian organizations use these observations to help scientists better understand global bird populations, migrations, trends, and future threats to the bird’s existence.
There are more than 600 species of birds found in Texas, compared to an estimated 1,000+ species of birds found in the lower 48 states. Why so many birds are found in Texas is because of the state’s location in the southern central segment of the United States. Most of the birds are permanent residents, however Texas is smack in the middle of many bird migration paths. Birds of all sizes and species stop in Texas to refuel before crossing the ocean to warmer climates in Mexico, Central or South America during the winter and return to breed and spend their summers or fly further north.
According to National Audubon, the number of birds in North America is declining sharply. As a result, these counts from citizens on private property hidden by research bird watchers is crucial to verify the information.
Participants can post their results via the Cornell Lab website or on the eBird website which is very user-friendly for amateur bird watchers. It is exciting to watch the active map of observations streaming in from eBird entries throughout the count period.
To learn more about the Great Backyard Bird Count and how to participate, review their website at www.birdcount.org. To learn more about birds in Texas many well-written bird guidebooks are available online, at bookstores, or on phone apps. One of the best and most reliable online resource with amazing photos is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website at www.tpwd.texas.gov.
Resource: The Great Backyard Bird Count website which has an inter-organizational partnership in the GBBC between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada.