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Long-eared Owl. photo by Avery English-Elliott/NAS

What birds are found in your area? How many of them have you seen in your yard? Some of these birds will be year round residents while others are residents only during winter or summer. There are even species of birds that may only spend a day or two in your area as they migrate north or south. By using a field guide or other resource, you should be able to discover the name of most of the species you encounter in your backyard over the course of the year.

After you’ve learned the names of the species, determine which ones are native and which may have been introduced to North America. The number of different birds that inhabit your ecological address might surprise you. It's interesting and important to learn the relative abundance or rarity of these species. Some species are highly adaptable generalists and occur in abundance across different ecoregions. Others have greater conservation needs because they have very specific habitat requirements and are vulnerable to slight habitat changes. Learning the population status of the species in your area will guide you in your efforts to make your yard and community bird-friendly.

Often less evident than birds are the other creatures that inhabit ecoregions. Learning about the mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish, and insects that may visit or reside in your backyard can be as simple as identifying a butterfly or challenging as searching for tracks and signs requiring real detective work. It is, however, often exciting and always enlightening. Use the sites below to help you with your identifications and discoveries.

National Audubon Society
Birds and Science
http://www.audubon.org/bird/index.html

National Audubon Society
WatchList
http://www.audubon.org/bird/watchlist/index.html

BirdSource
Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s interactive website
http://www.birdsource.org

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/

University of California Berkeley
Introduction to Aves – The Birds
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/birds/birdintro.html

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
North American Bird Lists
http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/chekbird.htm

Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History
North American mammals
http://web4.si.edu/mna/main.cfm

BIOSIS
A vast resource for finding life science information and more
http://www.biosis.org.uk/zrdocs/zoolinfo/grp_mamm.htm
http://www.biosis.org.uk/zrdocs/zoolinfo/checklists.htm