Birds, Bees, Buds, Oh My! Citizen Science in your Garden!

 

As winter begins to fade away and the weather starts to get warmer, our thoughts turn to spring plants beginning to bloom. We start dreaming of what to plant in our gardens, whether our garden is in pots on our patio or balcony, or we have a plot in our yard or local community garden. We want to get outside more to enjoy this explosion of nature in our gardens and parks. This also offers us a chance to become citizen scientists!

“What’s that?” you ask.

Citizen science is the opportunity for everyone in our community to help scientists gather information. You get to be a scientist! With our help, scientists increase their knowledge of many different subjects in the natural world. Following simple instructions and using your phone or computer, anyone in the community can make observations and share them with scientists through special websites or apps. 

For example - you observe how many times you see a specific type of butterfly visit a group of flowers over a 30 minute period. You record the location of the flowers, the date and the number of butterflies on a special website or app. This adds to the information scientists have about that particular butterfly.

Here are four of the best citizen science activity sites for all garden lovers. Best of all, you do not need your own garden to participate. You can make observations on a walk around your neighborhood, in your local park, or even out your window. Set up your free account and give them a try!

SciGirls (website and app available)

This is a great introduction to citizen science. This PBS KIDS show highlights science projects that appeal to boys and girls. In 2015 all of their shows focused on citizen science. Watch this Flower Power episode (in English or Spanish) to learn more about how citizen science works, and if you might like to try it. This episode also introduces Nature’s Notebook, (website and app available), a wonderful citizen science tool kids can use with the help of an adult.

Budburst (website only)

Did you know that pollinators like bees, butterflies, birds, and even bats are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat? Their job is to move from flower to flower collecting and spreading pollen. They are important in helping plants to grow healthy fruits and seeds.

On Budburst you can help scientists figure out how climate change is affecting plants and their pollinators. All you need is a cell phone and 10 minutes. Log on to this site to get started:  https://budburst.org/pollinators-and-climate 

Bumble Bee Watch (website and app available)

Bees are one of the most helpful pollinators in our gardens. They are easy to recognize, fun to watch, and can be found around flowers and gardens in your yard or local park. Bumble bee watching is a simple way to become a citizen scientist. All it takes is three steps:

1. Take a photo of a bumble bee
2. Upload it to the Bumble Bee Watch site
3. Identify which bumble bee you think it is with the helpful tools provided on the site.

If you want to watch a step by step explanation of how to add your bumble bee photos and information watch this video:  https://youtu.be/p7Kp3Awf2MQ 

eBird (website and app available)

This site is one of the best to learn about the birds that visit your garden and local neighborhood. Birds enjoy the seeds from your flowers, and sometimes eat a peck or two of your tomatoes or other vegetables. They also help pollinate flowers and have the important job of eating caterpillars that may be munching on the leaves of your plants.

You can watch birds from the window of your home and add what you see on eBird. You do not even need to go outside!

In the Bird Academy Play Lab, the Bird Song Hero game is a great way for all ages to learn how to listen to bird songs. This helps you to identify the birds when you see them in your garden. Click on this link for  the tutorial and give it a try: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/bird-song-hero/bird-song-hero-tutorial