Our Blog
House Finch Eye Disease: Increased virulence as disease progressesRecent findings indicate that the pathogen that causes House Finch eye disease – Mycoplasma gallisepticum – is becoming stronger and more dangerous than earlier versions of the pathogen.
Inspiring story of FeederWatch in a classroomAt a time when technology inundates our lives, it can be difficult to connect with the natural world. Jennifer Ford, a teacher at Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, New York, has put FeederWatch to use in her classroom to do just that: connect students with nature and science in a very tangible way.
Interaction project end-of-season summaryThank you to Eliot Miller for this end-of-season summary about a new project investigating bird interactions at your feeders. And thank you to all FeederWatchers who sent in data! Read on to see how Eliot has put them to amazing…
Keeping House Sparrows away from feedersAn invasion of House Sparrows almost caused FeederWatcher Bill Kampen in Leavenworth, Washington, to stop feeding birds. A few sparrows appeared at Bill’s feeders one day, and soon there were so many House Sparrows that they crowded out other species….
Let’s Talk Emotions!Project FeederWatch adds the option to submit data on your emotions to study human-bird relationships.
By Christy Pototsky, Virginia Tech
This season 80% of Project FeederWatch participants are participating in new optional aspects of Project FeederWatch data collection. Along with recording types…
Lowest Bird Abundance at FeederWatch Sites in Ten YearsWe often receive inquiries from participants asking, “where have all the birds gone?” and telling us that bird counts seem lower than in the past. Typically, these observations are localized and don’t reflect a wider trend, but in the 2023-24…
Methods Behind the Madness: Why Only Count the Most Birds Seen at Once?You’ve just sat down in your living room under a cozy blanket with a steaming mug of fresh coffee to begin your FeederWatch count. You watch for an hour as chickadees race back and forth to your feeder from deep…
Methods Behind the Madness: Why shouldn’t I start a count when I see an exciting species?Why shouldn’t I start a count when I see an exciting species? If you see a new or uncommon bird species, it’s completely understandable to want to report it on a FeederWatch count. It’s great to notice rare birds, but reporting counts only when you see exciting species misrepresents the birds at your feeders and makes it seem as if rare species are more common than they really are.
Millions of FeederWatch observations now at your fingertips!Where do all the cardinals live? Are Anna’s Hummingbirds expanding their winter range? What years have nuthatch irruptions? The new FeederWatch trend graphs are here to provide the answers in a colorful and fun way!
Animated maps…