Gardening in the Sky

“The chickadee comes to the feeder. Even now, so close to twilight! Less than half an ounce of feather and hollow bone, ten drops of blood, heart smaller than a fingernail — yet she survives all night, every night, all winter.”

These words, from an essay by author Melanie Rae Thon, express so well the wonder — the fragility and strength — of our backyard birds. 

A fascination and fondness for chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, and other birds that visit feeders seems to be widespread. Surveys estimate that more than 50 million households in the U.S. have backyard feeders. According to the Wild Bird Feeding Institute, “backyard bird feeding stands as the second-largest outdoor hobby in the United States, following gardening closely.” 

The popularity of backyard bird feeding prompted the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada to tap into it as a potential resource for learning about birds. In the winter of 1987–88, they started Project FeederWatch, known to organizers and participants as simply FeederWatch. This citizen science project asks people to record the highest number of each species they see at their feeders over two consecutive days each week from November through April. 

During the project’s first year, more than 4,000 people signed up. Since then, the numbers have climbed, with more than 30,000 people enrolling each season since 2020–21. With everyone following the same protocol, millions of sightings can be grouped together in a vast database. Each participant provides a piece of the whole, a snapshot of what bird species are doing (where they are and in what abundance) all over the U.S. and Canada on a week-by-week basis. 

A Win for Science

With data coming in over decades from across the two countries, FeederWatch has helped scientists see bird population trends at the continental, regional, and species level. As a long-term dataset, it can identify changes in the timing of bird migration and changes in species’ ranges. Because participants provide information about their site — surrounding habitat, vegetation, types of seeds and feeders — scientists can look at what features attract more birds. Besides counting, participants have the option of reporting other observations, such as mammals in the feeder area, interactions between species, and if any birds show signs of eye disease or other illness. Through the latter, FeederWatch can alert scientists to where diseases are spreading and if large outbreaks are happening.

All the raw data is available for download from the FeederWatch website so scientists (and anyone) around the world can mine it and analyze it in various ways to learn more about birds. With 38 years of data collected and counting, this amounts to millions of records. Researchers in other organizations and universities have used this resource by combining the data with other datasets to enhance their studies. Dozens of scientific papers have been written using FeederWatch data. But there’s no way scientists would be able to collect this information if it were not for the thousands of FeederWatch volunteers.

A Win for Volunteers

Nicole LaPlante began counting for FeederWatch at her home in Grain Valley about five years ago and has continued to participate each year since. 

“I had just started my love affair with birdwatching, and FeederWatch offered a great way for me to get to know the birds in my own backyard,” she says. “It’s just a fun and relaxing way to spend my mornings. I grab a cup of coffee, perch in my favorite chair, and start watching the world wake up with birds.”

In Kansas City, Darla Burns watches and counts birds once a week at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, which designates two days a week for volunteers to come in and count for FeederWatch.

“It’s relaxing. It’s beautiful. It’s like gardening in the sky,” says Burns. While gardening is her primary activity, she says counting feeder birds is a “winter balance activity” that she can do during the months when it’s too cold to garden. Instead of colorful flowers, there are colorful birds. 

Sherry Leonardo participates in a variety of citizen science efforts that keep her busy year-round. Being part of programs like FeederWatch, she says, is a way of “giving back and not just doing it for myself. I like knowing that I’m contributing to a database that scientists see.” 

At Shoal Creek Conservation Education Center in Joplin, MDC Naturalist Jessie Ballard helps with that center’s FeederWatch days. 

“FeederWatch gives us a way to connect with fellow birdwatchers and helps monitor birds in our area,” Ballard says. She enjoys “the excitement which fills the air when a new bird is seen at the feeders.” 

Seeing Patterns

Leonardo and others enjoy keeping records of their sightings so they can compare what they see from year to year. FeederWatch makes this easy by storing participants’ counts and providing different ways to view the data, including graphs of species trends and a table that shows their sightings for each week through the season. Yet another table shows the percentage of times they’ve seen each species and compares it to what nearby FeederWatch participants are seeing. The database also allows participants to compare their current season with past seasons and look at weekly counts by state to see what’s been seen at feeders statewide. So, while scientists apply the data at a larger scale, participants get to view it, too, to see the trends in their own backyards. 

Great for Beginners

If you’re interested in participating in citizen science or learning bird identification, FeederWatch can be a good way to start. Since the number of species that visit feeders is limited, especially in winter, learning backyard birds can seem less daunting than choosing from all the birds in a bird book. Participants can request free materials, including a poster of common feeder species, through the FeederWatch program. Those needing help with a bird ID can reach out to FeederWatch, other birding groups, and nature center staff. A few nature centers even have days when the public can come in and help with the center’s FeederWatch count. 

Leonardo teaches visitors who come to the FeederWatch count at Burroughs Audubon Nature Center in Blue Springs the specifics of identifying birds. At the feeders, she says, “you can see the birds quite well even without binoculars,” which makes it easier for people new to birdwatching to become acquainted with the birds and begin developing observation skills. 

Tessa Poolman echoes the sentiment. “Watching birds at feeders is a great way for people to learn birds and get familiar with their behaviors,” she says, “because you can’t always get a good look at birds in other settings.” Poolman, director of community conservation for the Missouri River Bird Observatory, organizes FeederWatch days at the Discovery Center. She says watching species at a feeder allows you to view them repeatedly from multiple angles, which engrains them in your brain and can help make identifying them in the field easier. 

Every Count Counts

The weekly counts from feeders across the U.S. and Canada create “a treasure trove of numbers,” says the FeederWatch website, that allow scientists “to draw a picture of winter bird abundance and distribution.” For the most accurate picture, they need to know “where birds are as well as where they are not.” So even when reports seem similar each week or only a handful of species are counted, the input still matters. It’s the combined total that reveals what’s happening with birds at large and assists conservationists in making decisions. The data gathered by the large community of FeederWatch volunteers, says the website, “provide information about bird population biology that cannot be detected by any other available method.”

Who knew the simple act of counting backyard birds could make such a difference.

Dianne Van Dien is an editor for MDC and writes Nature Lab for the Missouri Conservationist. Her favorite backyard bird is the downy woodpecker. 

FeederWatch.org

The Project FeederWatch website is full of information about bird feeding, bird identification, landscaping for birds, resources for educators, avian diseases, and insights gleaned from FeederWatch data. All of this is available to anyone, not just FeederWatch participants.

How to Participate in FeederWatch

To join FeederWatch, you just need to choose a location and sign up online (note that there is a fee of $18 that helps cover the cost of running the program). Then pick two days in a row to count birds; the amount of time you watch and when is up to you. Data sheets can be printed from the website and data entered online, or you can download the FeederWatch app and use your mobile device. Find full details at FeederWatch.org.

The rules for counting are easy to follow but be sure to read them carefully. The protocol is a bit different from those of other bird counts. For instance, if a bird flies overhead without stopping in your feeder area, you shouldn’t count it. (If you want to record birds that fly over or that visit outside of your FeederWatch days, you can do that on eBird, another database created by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Learn more at eBird.org.)

Where to Watch 

Although most people watch birds at backyard feeders, FeederWatch does not require you to have a feeder. Feeders will generally attract more birds but counts from yards with no feeders allow scientists to assess the effects of supplemental feeding. Yards with bird-friendly habitat are ideal for this. 

If you want to watch birds at feeders but don’t want to put up a feeder or you live somewhere where you can’t, many nature centers have bird feeding stations that you can visit, and some offer FeederWatch days where they invite the public to count birds and the nature center staff submit the data. 

Missouri Nature Centers That Offer FeederWatch Days:

Kansas City - Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center 

Blue Springs - Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center

Blue Springs - Burroughs Audubon Nature Center and Bird Sanctuary 

Joplin - Shoal Creek Conservation Education Center

Contact each location for days and times. This list is not exhaustive. Check with your local nature center.

FeederWatch in Missouri, 2024–25 season

• 214 participants (sites)
• 90 species reported in total

Species seen the most at Missouri feeders:

• Northern cardinal
• Chickadee (Black-capped and Carolina combined)
• Dark-eyed junco
• Downy woodpecker
• House finch 

Citizen Science Projects 

Citizen science is the term used to describe public participation in science projects. A large variety of citizen science opportunities are available. Project FeederWatch is just one example. 

Other Missouri citizen science projects include: 

MDC Wildlife Surveys short.mdc.mo.gov/4j7

Missouri Stream Team mostreamteam.org

Missouri Bumblebee Atlas short.mdc.mo.gov/4j8

Find more citizen science projects at scistarter.org.

Author Reflections

Although I’ve put up bird feeders for years, I didn’t sign up for FeederWatch until last winter. I’ve enjoyed it for all the reasons others have stated, but additionally I’ve found that counting birds for FeederWatch makes me observe the birds more closely. Instead of merely glancing out the window on the way to the kitchen and thinking “Gee, there are a lot of cardinals today,” or grabbing binoculars only when I spot an unusual species, I must set aside time to watch with intention. I’m sure I’ve noticed details that I would have missed otherwise, like that among all the house sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, and white-throated sparrows, there was one swamp sparrow scratching through seeds on the ground with them, and it was there every week for a month. 

Also, counting requires my complete attention. When dozens of birds are hopping around on the ground or flying from feeder to tree branch and back, there’s no room to think about worries or responsibilities. Cares are left behind. It’s like a meditation.