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Birdaday Field Notes

Citizen science how-to

Project FeederWatch: how the winter feeder count works

Project FeederWatch is a winter survey of the birds that visit backyards, nature centers, community areas and other spots in the United States and Canada. It runs from November 1 to the end of April. You pick a small area you can watch, count on two days in a row as often as once a week, and report the most birds of each species you saw at one time. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology runs it in the US and Birds Canada runs it in Canada. This page explains how a count works, what joining costs and what the data are used for, all from the project's own pages.

Quick read

Next season: 2026–27, November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. The project calls it its 40th anniversary season.

Cost: $18 a year in the US; in Canada, a donation of any amount to Birds Canada.

Feeder needed? No. Any area where you watch birds can be a count site.

Schedule: your choice. Count weekly, once all winter, or anything in between.

From an Ontario survey to 40 seasons

Year or season Milestone
1976 Erica Dunn starts the Ontario Bird Feeder Survey through Long Point Bird Observatory (now Birds Canada)
The first 10 years The survey grows to more than 500 participants; organizers then decide to expand into the United States and partner with the Cornell Lab
1987–88 First season as Project FeederWatch; more than 4,000 people enroll
2025–26 (39th) 31,105 participants; 247,895 checklists from 65 states and provinces, more than 468 species, as of the end-of-season note
2026–27 (40th) November 1, 2026 – April 30, 2027

The project's overview says it now tracks more than 100 bird species that winter in North America.

How a count works

A FeederWatch count site and the two-day count scheduleLeft: a backyard count site seen from a house window, with a dashed boundary, a feeder, a birdbath and a shrub inside it, and a bird flying over above it that is not counted. Right: a season bar from November 1 to April 30; one example week of seven days with two consecutive count days followed by five days off; and an example of counting juncos where tallies of 3, 5 and 4 birds in view at once lead to a report of 5, not 12. Your count site Often about two tennis courts Season NovDecJanFebMarApr Nov 1Apr 30 One example week Day 1Day 2 CountAt least 5 days off Most at one time Example: juncos in view at once Day 13 Day 15 Day 24 Report5 Not 3 + 5 + 4 = 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
  1. Count site: an area you can watch easily, ideally from one spot. Most are roughly the size of two tennis courts; one can be as small as a single feeder.
  2. Vantage point: a window works. If you use more than one vantage point, never combine their counts.
  3. What you provide: feeders, water or plantings. Count birds drawn to the site, including those that skip the feeders and hawks drawn by feeder birds.
  4. Flyovers: birds that only fly over are not counted. Neither are birds you only hear or only catch on a camera.
  5. Season: November 1 to the end of April; April 29 is the last day to start a two-day count.
  6. Two-day count: two consecutive days, no more than once a week.
  7. Gap: at least five days without counting between counts. Counting less often is fine.
  8. Most at one time: report the highest number of each species in view at once over the two days. Never add tallies together.
Drawing: Birdaday Field Notes, following Project FeederWatch's "How to Participate" and "Detailed Instructions" pages (sources below). The yard layout, week and junco numbers are invented examples. Not to scale.

The count site. FeederWatch asks you to choose a portion of your yard that is easy to watch, preferably from one vantage point, and to keep the same site all season if you can. It should include something you maintain, such as feeders, water or plants. You do not need feeders at all; the project counts any area where you like to watch birds.

The count days. Each count is two consecutive days. Pick your days and stick to them: the instructions say not to change your count days "just because you see remarkable numbers or kinds of animals." Leave at least five days without counting between counts.

What you count. Count birds in your site during the day that are there because of something you provide or because of the feeder activity. That includes predators such as hawks or owls drawn by feeder birds, even if they catch nothing. Our hawks at feeders guide covers the two usual suspects. You can watch as much or as little as you like on each day.

How you count. For each species, record the largest number of individuals in view at the same time during the two-day count. Keep one running tally across both days so the same bird is never counted twice. For big flocks, the instructions suggest counting a block of birds and estimating the rest.

What else you record. Note the time you actually spent watching on each day, and the average snow depth at your site over the two days. You do not need to record temperature, rain or wind: the project matches weather data from continental datasets to your counts. Mammals are optional. Squirrels and other grouped mammals are counted together, as if they were one species.

Unusual reports. A computer review flags high counts and species that are rare for your area. You may be asked to confirm the number or send a photo or description.

How to join, step by step

  1. Sign up through feederwatch.org's Join or Renew page. US participants register through the Cornell Lab; Canadians join through Birds Canada.
  2. Read the instructions while you wait. Posters and calendars "may take several weeks" to arrive, and counting begins November 1.
  3. Choose your count site and describe it on the site description form. The form must be filled out every season, but it is not needed before you enter bird counts.
  4. Pick your two count days and keep to the five-day gap.
  5. Count the maximum of each species in view at once, plus your watching time and snow depth.
  6. Submit in the FeederWatch app (for Apple and Android devices) at the end of each two-day count, or on the website. On the website, a count is only sent when you click the Finish Count button.

You can edit any count later, even from past seasons, from the "Your Data" pages.

Cost and what you get

United States Canada
Run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds Canada
Fee $18 a year A donation of any amount covers the whole season
Print kit Welcome letter, poster of common winter feeder birds (eastern and western sides), Bird-Watching Days calendar Welcome letter, poster, Birds Canada wall calendar
Also included Winter Bird Highlights year-end report, eNews, digital access to Living Bird magazine Winter Bird Highlights, eNews

The project says participant fees provide nearly all its funding and that "without participant fees, the project would have to shut down." Print materials are optional; to skip them you have to subscribe to the eNews. The Join or Renew page did not show a dollar amount when this page was written, so check the US fee at checkout.

What the data are used for

FeederWatch lists these uses on its overview page:

One example the project gives: Florida FeederWatch data showed a steady winter decline in Painted Buntings since the 1980s, which helped prompt a state monitoring program. The project's publications list goes back to 1989. It includes papers on mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in eastern House Finches (1998), boreal bird irruptions in PNAS (2015), a hummingbird's winter range expansion linked to urbanization and feeding (2017), and bird deaths from striking house windows in winter (1993). From January 2026 the project also ran a Bird-Glass Collision Study. By the end-of-season note, more than 1,000 FeederWatchers had recorded 3,356 collisions involving 80 species; the study ran until the end of June. Our window collisions guide covers prevention.

Where sources differ

FeederWatch, GBBC or CBC?

FeederWatch GBBC CBC
When Two-day counts, Nov 1 – Apr 30 Four days in February One day, Dec 14 – Jan 5
Where Your own count site Anywhere An assigned 15-mile circle
Sign-up Register; $18 in the US, a donation in Canada None Register with a compiler
What you report Most of each species seen at once Every bird, by checklist Through the compiler

Birds from your count days can also go on a Bird-a-Day streak list. To stock your count site, see what to feed backyard birds.

Before your first count

Sources