Project FeederWatch

Charro Ranch Park

“I’ve been participating in Project FeederWatch since 2014, and I have only been watching birds since 2013.” —Eva Frost

Eva Frost

Project FeederWatch is an easy, fun way of learning about birds that you can do right from your backyard. Or with a friend! Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. They make it very simple, and you can start your birding life list too.

To participate, go to the Project FeederWatch website, create a login, and create a feeding area. I count morning and afternoon, sometimes twenty minutes, and sometimes an hour. Report the largest tally of birds seen at one time.

Hays County Master Naturalists can report volunteer hours for participating in Project FeederWatch under Project 1110 FR. There are flyers at Charro Ranch Park for people to scan with their phones to sign up. They are also counting at Dripping Springs Ranch Park.

“Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broad scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.”—HCMN Volunteer Management System 1110 FR (Field Research) Project FeederWatch

You can learn a lot from seasonally collected data. I knew birds' names, but now I know so much more about their behavior and their ranges. I know who builds the nests and how and where they build them.

You will see birds migrating through that you may have never seen before!

I am learning what foods they eat, when and why! And the big one—what they SAY! Learning to bird by ear will greatly add to your birding experience in the future.

I expect to see some changes this season with a lot of topped and broken-down trees. I have already noticed a lot of missing White-winged doves.

Last season, the American robins and Cedar waxwings just covered the skies in Henly. This season, I had reasonably small flocks here and there.

We have a female Northern Cardinal that has a white head and a white patch on her back. This is caused by melanin not being distributed throughout the feathers.

This leucistic cardinal only seems to come out when she has a lot of cover, sneaking in and sneaking out when the feeders are covered with other birds. I have a Field Sparrow at another site that has been fine this way for many years.

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