Here's how Kansans can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend

Citizen scientists can help record data on birds you see in your own backyard through Monday.

The 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, or GBBC, aims to collect data on birds as a means of checking on the various types of species and how they're interacting with the environment through a global snapshot in time.

Participants wishing to record their sightings are asked to spend a minimum of 15 minutes in their backyard, or anywhere actually, and submit their findings to birdcount.org, which includes research for the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada.

Cornell offers smartphone applications that can help in the process and automatically submit your findings. One of the applications, Merlin Bird ID, can use your phone's microphone to identify bird sounds. It also let you upload your photo to match birds through its database.

More:Topeka-area bird watchers see wide variety of migrating species

Bird population fell by 3 billion between 1970 and 2019

This ever-growing eBird database is collected at Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, and has shown a steady decrease in the overall bird populations globally. In 2019, researchers found there were 3 billion fewer birds in North America than in 1970.

Fortunately, the decrease in bird populations has fueled an increase in citizen scientists to help. Last year, an estimated 384,641 participants from 192 countries helped identify 7,099 species.

In Topeka and Shawnee County, there are a number of birds and habitats that can be spotted.

In December, the Topeka Audubon Society hosted its 76th Annual Topeka Christmas Bird Count over a 7-mile radius from the Kansas Statehouse. Seventy-eight species and 14,235 birds were identified locally by 24 participants.

"It's a little under average," said Carol Morgan, newsletter editor for the society. "Our average is around 17,000 birds, individuals counted. So it's under what we count as total individuals, but it's over the average (number of species). The average is 71 species."

Topeka Audubon Society does monthly walk and field trips

Beyond the Christmas count, the society does a monthly walk and takes field trips to other counties where they record their findings.

"The purpose of the Great Backyard Bird Count is to involve more people who are just looking in their backyards from home, not really going out on field trips," Morgan said. "What Cornell is trying to do with the Great Backyard Bird Count is pull in maybe, you know, thousands upon thousands of additional people around the world or around the country in to looking in their backyards and thinking about birds and counting them."

Even if what you spot are common birds, such as American crows, black-capped Chickadee or a house sparrow, they are worth taking note of, or even photographing and sharing on the Audubon's Facebook page, Morgan said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Great Backyard Bird Count of 2023 made easier with smartphone apps