Spring migration is upon us and with that comes another Spring Bird Count! The SBC is a bird census that is conducted every year on the first Saturday between May 4th and 10th for the Illinois Natural History Survey. The Will County Audubon Chapter organizes, counts, and compiles the western half of Will County, and this year we will be doing it on May 9th.
The count is simple: participants sign up for a set location(s) and count every bird seen or heard at that location(s) along with the number of hours they spend owling or railing (pre-dawn/post sunset hours), the number of hours spent looking for birds, the number of miles driven in a car, and the number of miles walked. Think of it as doing a regular EBird checklist with a little extra recorded info. You can count at whatever time of the day is best for you between 12:00AM and 11:59PM on May 9th. You can also count as a team or as an individual. Locations should be covered as much as possible to obtain the best count as possible. If you have physical limitations and require a particular location (i.e. paved trails for wheelchair access), please let me know.
Further rules/instructions will be given to final participants the week before the count. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!