Do you love bird watching? Do you want to contribute to citizen science by recording the variety and abundance of birds that call Indiana home in the winter? Join CDPL’s Library Naturalist for the Annual Great Backyard Bird Count at Brickyard Nature Park, 759 Concord Road, Crawfordsville, at 10 a.m. Saturday. This program is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Wild Birds Unlimited and is done annually in February. It has occurred since 1998, and was the first online participatory-science-based project to collect data on wild birds and to display information on bird species and populations in real-time. In 2013, Birds Canada joined, and the world demonstrated their love of birds as this became a global event. In 2024, over 210 countries participated in this program.
Since 1970, the populations of common bird species, such as white-throated sparrows, redwing blackbirds, various warblers, black-eyed juncos, meadowlarks, grosbeaks, and a variety of finches, have crashed in the last fifty years. More than 90% of this loss has occurred in the species mentioned. Over 2.9 billion breeding adult birds have vanished over the past decades in all biomes across the U.S. and Canada. That equals more than one in four birds that have disappeared. That’s a decline of over 30% of bird populations (Gustave Axelson, Editorial Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2025). With this said, some bird species populations (like waterfowl, raptors, and turkeys) are exploding due to conservation efforts.
How can we do our part to help birds? During our event on Saturday, we will record bird species counts on tally sheets, and then our Library Naturalist will upload all species documentation to the Great Backyard Bird Count citizen science database, known as eBird. You will be able to view our collected information on their website (www.birdcount.org). By collecting bird species information, we can learn the diversity and abundance of species that are common to our area, or a migratory bird just passing through Indiana. The information we provide will help researchers, other scientists, avid birders, and curious citizens know more about the distribution of bird species, as well as rough population numbers. This information can then be inferred to determine the overall health of a population of birds, and where those birds are located, within or outside their habitat range.
To prepare for this program, all that is needed is an interest in birds. We will have color bird ID sheets available for those who might need a little extra help. If you have a bird identification book, bring it along. You can also download the free Merlin Bird ID app to have a pocket companion in the field. We will document our findings for up to one hour, which will give us ample sample time. We have the option to either sit stationary or to walk the park to find more species. This can be a passive program, so walking is not necessary to participate. All ages and birding abilities are welcome. Participants must sign a waiver, which will be available onsite, before participating.
For more information on this program, please contact the Crawfordsville District Public Library Adult Services Department, and direct your inquiry to the Library Naturalist. Our phone number is 765-362-2242, ext. 3. If you prefer email, we can be reached at ask@cdpl.lib.in.us. For further bird resources in our collection, please ask for assistance at the second floor Information desk. The library is open to serve Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 9 pm; Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm.
Stephanie Morrissette is an avid naturalist and a library assistant in the Adult Services Department at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
