Two annual events that celebrate birds occur this year on Saturday, May 11, and you can participate.  Global Big Day brings together people who care about birds and contribute to the effort to understand how bird populations are faring worldwide.  

Adding to this important dataset is easy.  Simply list the bird species and numbers of each that you see in any location and enter your data on ebird.org. You may count for as little as ten minutes anytime between midnight and midnight on the 11th to participate. Count birds at your home or submit a list from your favorite location to watch birds. If you are new to ebird, visit ebird.org to learn how to set up an account. 

Also occurring on Saturday the 11th is World Migratory Bird Day. The goal of this global effort is to raise the awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.  Migratory birds rely on good habitat at their winter homes, along the paths of their spring and fall journeys, and in their summer breeding areas to survive.  They may travel through several countries each year.

The theme of this year’s Migratory Bird Day is the importance of insects to migratory birds.  Migratory birds rely on protein-rich  insects to fuel their journeys and to feed to young on their breeding grounds.  The timing of spring migration is closely tied to the abundance of insects at their destinations.   You can help birds by reducing your use of pesticides and herbicides and supporting organic farming.