The Bemidji community is welcome to participate in the 25th annual international Great Backyard Bird Count, which started Friday, Feb. 18 and goes through Monday, Feb. 21, by counting and identifying various types of birds at Lake Bemidji State Park.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a global event that happens every year in February, where many people from all around the world spend four days in their favorite places learning about and counting birds.

Lake Bemidji State Park Interpretive Naturalist Christa Drake says that this event is actually very helpful for scientists when it comes to monitoring and protecting birds. These observations that are gathered help scientists better detect long-term trends in global bird populations.

Participating in the bird count is quite easy and fun to do anywhere by following these three steps:

• Step One: Decide where you would like to watch birds.
• Step Two: Watch birds for about 15 minutes or so, at least once over four days, from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21.
• Step Three: Count all the birds you see or hear, and track your sightings on the eBird mobile app.

Drake feels that in order to feel some sort of appreciation or compassion for nature, you have to figure out how your connected to it. She believes that bird watching is an easy way to do so.

For those ahead-of-time planners, bird watchers can also visit birdcount.org and print out a checklist that contains a list of various birds within the state of Minnesota.

By — Emma Hudziak