The Great Backyard Bird Count will take place February 13-16, 2009. The sponsors, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, invite people of all ages throughout North America to contribute to knowledge about bird population trends.

Anyone, from novice bird watchers to experts, can participate by counting for as little as 15 minutes on one or more days of the event, or longer if they choose to. They then report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.

A section of the web site is prepared for children with counting instructions, a checklist of birds that live in a region, games and quizzes, and science stories. In addition to entering their tallies, participants may submit digital images for a photo contest. Many photos will be featured in an online gallery.

Polar birds are the subject of the February issue of Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology assisted in the production of this issue. You’ll find literacy and science activities for K-5 classrooms centered on the birds in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.