FREDERICTON -- If you've been nesting inside, the Nature Conservancy of Canada encourages you to get outdoors and help science at the same time.
The 24th annual backyard bird count starts Friday and they hope you'll help track our feathered friends.
"You don't need to be a biologist or a bird nerd to participate which is the great thing about this," said Andrew Holland, of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. "So, even if you go out for 15 minutes with your kids and identify birds, you can upload these on to two apps and contribute to that effort."
Last year, participants in over 100 countries identified about 7,000 different bird species.
The yearly effort helps collect important information.
"Scientists can’t be everywhere, so we rely on the eyes of the world to count the birds in their own local area to give us a real snapshot and we use this data to make conservation decisions for birds," said Kerrie Wilcox of Birds Canada from Port Rowan, Ont.
This year's count will take place from Friday through Monday around the world, and if you don't know your birds, that's not a problem.
"You can download the free Merlin bird ID app," Wilcox said. "And this is really cool, because you can put in the description or upload a photo from your phone and it gives you instant identification of the bird so it makes it really simple for people who aren't as experienced to participate in this count."
The count helps track bird trends and gives an idea of bird population, migration, and range.
"Canada and the United States have lost 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and that's from studies that have been done by various conservation groups," Holland said. "2.9 billion with a 'b.' that's a significant amount of birds lost due to climate change, habitat loss, but also a loss of food."
Holland also wants to remind people this is a crucial time of year to put feeders out to help birds through the colder months.
To contribute to this year's count you can visit birdcount.org
