by Laura Falin posted in Life & Home

The Great Backyard Bird Count is almost here! Every year the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (that's bird studying and stuff), The Audobon Society, and Bird Studies Canada team up to encourage people to take 15 minutes and count some birds. You can grab the kids and head to a park, go on a hike, even just count them in your own yard. Enter your findings here, and help scientists as they study bird populations and patterns.

I love this program for several reasons, but mostly because it counts kids as important. They're collecting information for actual scientists to use in actual research, and that's a pretty great feeling. Combine that with the fact that it gets everyone outdoors and observing nature, and I think you can't go wrong. Kids can do this once, or once a day for the entire time of the count (Feb. 17-20). And I've noticed that once you get kids involved in bird watching, they'll want to do more. Here are a few more tips for bird watching with your kids.

1.) Get a bird feeder. We have a squirrel-proof feeder that we bought at a home improvement store for about $10. Hang it where you can see it from a window, fill it up, and watch the show. On cold and snowy days when everyone is tucked warmly in their homes, we're always amazed to see the numbers of birds flocking to our feeder. It's better than TV, I swear.
2.) Get a bird bath. It doesn't have to be fancy. Ours is a flower pot saucer on a tree stump. But when it's cold out, bi...