The 19th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), running the four days from February 12 through 15, includes Valentine’s Day this year. How appropriate, since people who take part in it love birds and love sharing what they see and know about birds.

Participation in the GBBC is free, fun and easy, and it will be your personalized Valentine’s Day Card to Mother Nature. A thank you to her for providing the birds for us to enjoy.

GBBC participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes, or as long as they wish, on one or more of the four days, and report their sightings online at birdcount.org. Anyone can take part in the Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from a backyard, a local park, the wilderness or anywhere in the world.

Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Last year, more than 140,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

The 19th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2016. Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information, and be sure to check out the many educational and promotional resources.