how to participate on January 24 and 25
1. Prepare your hide
Organized by the League for the Protection of Birds and the National Museum of Natural History, the national count at the end of January aims to populate a geolocated database to know the distribution and evolution of bird species during the wintering period.
It is important to follow a simple but precise method. You can practice beforehand using a five-minute video (read below) . Don’t hesitate to visit the websiteoiseaudesjardins.fr to print the counting sheet in advance. And make some revisions in order to distinguish crow and raven, finch and robin, etc.
2. Get started on the big day
Choose a private or public garden, courtyard or balcony where you can sit for an hour. Don’t hesitate to invite a friend, a child or a grandchild and equip yourself with binoculars.
Your challenge: identify and count the birds of the same species that land in the chosen location. For each of them, only keep the maximum number of specimens seen at the same time, to avoid counting the same bird twice. You can record your data live on a dedicated sheet, but also take photos or record sounds if you have doubts.
3. Save your data
Once your session is over, go to the website Oisedesjardins.fr to create an account, locate your observation location (“participate” tab, then “add a garden”) and list the species seen. You can also upload your photos and sounds if you want confirmation from a scientist.
4. Start again…
Did you like the experience? You can relive it whenever you want, in ten minute increments. Another national count also takes place every year at the end of May, this time during the breeding season.
TO GO FURTHER
→ A video to practice the counting method: bit.ly/counting-national-birds
→ A guide to learning to identify by eye and sound:
Easily recognize garden birds, Daniela Strauss (Ed. Ulmer).
→ To understand what these counts are used for, the 10-year report (2012-2022) can be read on here
