The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society are calling on all birders to report sightings to the Great Backyard Bird Count, this weekend, Friday, February 16-Monday, February 19, 2007. Just count birds at any location for at least 15 minutes on one or more of the count days and record the highest number of each species you see at any one time. Send your tallies to the GBBC web site at http://birdsource.org/gbbc. You'll be able to see results in real time as participants report what they're seeing from across the United States and Canada. Your tallies are important to help make sure the birds in your community are well represented in this year's count. Scientists can use information from the Great Backyard Bird Count to understand changes in bird populations from year to year and over the long-term. The GBBC gives a unique snapshot of where the birds are across the continent each year--something that is only possible with the help of thousands of birders all reporting what they're seeing at the same time. Everyone who submits a checklist in this year's count will be entered in a prize drawing for one of four pairs of Vortex Sidewinder 8x42 binoculars donated by GBBC sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited, and other special prizes from the Lab and Audubon. Send in your checklist to put your town in the running for your state's "checklist champ" competition, and help break an all-time GBBC record for total checklists (the record of 61,049 was narrowly missed last year by just several hundred checklists). Visit the web site http://birdsource.org/gbbc for more information about the count, bird ID tips, and the GBBC photo gallery, showcasing winners of last year's photo competition. Check out last year's results from your town at http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report. Please forward this email message to anyone you know who might want to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Thanks for your help! Pat Leonard Cornell Lab of Ornithology ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]