Across Illinois, volunteers take to the fields, forests, wetlands and cities of Illinois to participate in the annual Spring Bird Count. Taking place each year on the Saturday falling between May 4th and May 10th, the first Illinois count occurred on May 6, 1972 with the help of the Illinois Audubon Society.
As a volunteer you will record all the birds you see or hear and number of hours spent “owling” and looking for birds during the day, as well as the number of miles driven and walked. A county compiler is responsible for recruiting volunteers, assigning them areas to count and tabulating the county data.