The National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count has passed until next December.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources Interpretive Naturalist and Educator Anne Riordan says that for those who missed out on their chance to participate, there are other bird counts that can be taken part in. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio that there’s one coming up this month.

“There’s one that’s called the Great Backyard Bird Count, which is actually a worldwide count. And that’s just four days in the middle of February. This year that count’s gonna be the 13th through the 16th of February. And it’s really pretty easy. People just pick any spot that they want. It doesn’t have to be a specific area. And they need to at least watch it for 15 minutes at least one time during that four days.”

Riordan mentions individuals can observe more than that required 15 minutes, but that that is up to them. She adds that after identifying the birds observed while watching, individuals then would need to submit their results to birdcount.org.