Nature Experts: Look Out For Birds This Weekend

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Take a look out your window and you might see a yellow-headed blackbird or a Connecticut warbler.

It wouldn't even be unheard of to see an American white pelican or a bald eagle.

This weekend marks the Great Backyard Bird Count and experts are hoping residents will take a look out the window and try to identify some of the birds.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau reports

It's a way to help in the study of bird migration, Audubon Greenwich volunteer Brian O'Toole said, and it's a nationwide effort.

"It is important to know what birds you are seeing, so it's good to have a field guide with you, a field guide to the birds because you want to know exactly what species you're seeing because you're going to have to input the data into the computer," O'Toole said.

O'Toole said don't be discouraged if you don't spot birds during Saturday's windy weather. They will take shelter, but, keep at it, he said, noting some rare birds have turned up during some of these annual bird counts.

There might even be some rare birds in the area.

"One in particular was the black throated blue warbler, which is a bird that should be in South America at this time of year," O'Toole said. "Luckily, someone saw this one at their bird feeder."

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. The event runs until Monday, Feb. 21.