To help raise awareness for declining numbers in Canada’s bird populations, a group called Bird’s Canada is once again holding their annual Great Backyard Bird Count.

Running during the long weekend, volunteers will count the birds they see and mark them on checklists found on the organization’s web site .

Andrew Holland with the Nature Conservancy of Canada describes what bird watchers might see this time of year.

“Usually you get a lot of Chickadees and Gold Finch this time of year. Not all birds can fly to South America or the Carolinas and this is a chance to see what birds are trying to survive our tough winter climate.”

Holland also says that you don’t need any experience to get involved.

“It’s open to everybody, that’s the beauty of it. You can be looking out your window and count birds for 15 minutes or you can be in your own backyard, a local green space in your neighbourhood or your sub division.”

According to Holland habitat loss has led to the disappearance of 3 billion birds in The United States and Canada over the past 50 years.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada looks to acquire land from donations and purchases to create habitats to bring bird populations up once again.

“The Great Backyard Bird Count is through the whole long weekend , and it’s an ideal time for Canadians to be a bit more aware of the plight of birds and how they’ve really diminished in their numbers and what can be done to help them out.”

Checklists and more information can be found at Birds Canada web site for the Great Backyard Bird Count. (https://gbbc.birdcount.org/) There, volunteers can join the global effort to help preserve areas for the bird population.