Every other weekend each winter, citizen scientists across North America grab a pencil and tally sheet and watch their bird feeders for a few hours. They send their data, either electronically or by mail, for entry into an enormous database that serves as our continent's most comprehensive information source on winter bird populations.

Project FeederWatch is sponsored by the Cornell University Audubon. For an annual fee of $15 ($12 for Cornell Lab members) you can become a registered participant and receive your needed materials plus a year's subscription to the Lab's newsletter, Birdscope. The survey begins in November and ends early April and late enrollments are accepted. Anyone who can identify the birds that visit their feeders is welcome to participate.

People do get hooked and enroll year after year. Watching and counting the birds regularly for an hour or so brings a whole new dimension to one's backyard birding. To enroll, visit the Project FeederWatch web page at http://birds.cornell.edu/pfw/