From December 14, 2008 through January 5, 2009, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas will take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition, National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count.

Then join everyday bird watchers again for the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, taking place February 13-16, 2009. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people outdoors to survey birds.

Each of the citizen scientists who brave the cold, wind, or rain, to take part in Audubon's Bird Counts make an enormous contribution to conservation. So come out and help scientists and policy-makers to both identify threats to birds and habitat, and promote broad awareness of the need to address them.