Community Science

Colorado Bluebird Project

The Colorado Bluebird Project operates under the guidance of Denver Audubon throughout Denver and across the state. This volunteer-run project aims to improve the vitality of bluebird populations and to inform and educate Coloradans about bluebirds. From April through August, volunteers of all ages are needed to help monitor the nest boxes.

  • Our Mission

    To improve the vitality of bluebird populations throughout the State of Colorado, and to inform and educate the public about bluebirds.

  • Our Goals

    • Maintain and monitor a network of trails around the Denver area through volunteers 
    • Partner with other Colorado chapters and cities to set up their own Bluebird monitoring programs 
    • Provide education and information to other groups and individuals around the state who are interested in installing and monitor new nestbox trails in suitable habitat throughout Colorado. 
    • Analyze and share data on how bluebirds are faring to encourage conservation action.  

  • NestWatch

    We strongly encourage all nest box monitors in Colorado to report your observations and results to the NestWatch. NestWatch provides you a suite of standard reports that allow you to look at your data in a variety of ways. Whether you use the app on your phone in the field or whether you do your data entry on a home computer, you can use either one to get information back about your nest boxes.


    One of the biggest benefits is that your data becomes part of the world of information in NestWatch. The data from your nest records can be aggregated in many ways at many levels by folks who are managing or researching nest box data at group or state or region or species or even country-wide level. Your data makes a big difference at all those levels.


    Just visit NestWatch.org to get started!

Climate Watch

Audubon’s Climate Watch program is a community science initiative that engages volunteers in tracking how bird species are responding to climate change. Participants survey specific target birds—mostly bluebirds, towhees, nuthatches, and goldfinches—within defined 10x10 km grid cells during winter and summer seasons. The data help Audubon test and refine its climate models that predict how birds’ ranges may shift as the climate changes, guiding future conservation efforts and habitat planning.


Surveys take place twice a year:

  • Winter season: January 15 – February 15
  • Summer season: May 15 – June 15


These windows align with periods when target bird species are most detectable and stationary within their seasonal ranges, helping ensure consistent data for climate modeling.


Contact Audrey if you are interested in participating!

Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch

We are a supporting partner of the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch, a project of Denver Field Ornithologists (DFO). DFO works with Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA), a non-profit organization, to count migrating hawks, eagles, falcons and other raptors each spring. This vital community science project not only tallies bird numbers — it also teaches participants how to identify these magnificent birds of prey and note their behavioral traits. 

 

Named for its world-renowned fossil beds, Dinosaur Ridge is a window into the seasonal movement of birds of prey such as hawks, eagles, falcons and more, over Colorado's Front Range. These raptors migrate in the spring along the eastern mountainous edge of the Rockies in part because mountain updrafts enable them to soar, which conserves their energy during their long journeys north to their breeding grounds. 

 

The Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch begins March 1 and runs through May 10, with daily observation periods from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m between March 1 to March 8, and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from March 9 to May 10. Visit the Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch site to learn more about how you can visit or volunteer

Lights Out Denver

We are a supporting partner of the Lights Out Denver Initiative, led by Denver Parks and Recreation. Part of Denver’s commitment as an Urban Bird Treaty City, the program aims to increase awareness of migratory bird collisions with buildings in the City and County of Denver and to promote practices that can help prevent these needless deaths. This program collects data on bird strikes in downtown Denver during spring and fall migration to identify threats to migratory birds and to demonstrate the necessity of bird-friendly building regulations. LOD also provides information on how individuals, businesses, property owners and managers can help reduce migratory bird deaths. 


Our goal is to help local businesses save energy, money, and migratory birds by promoting bird-safe building designs and reducing nighttime lighting!  Visit the Lights Out Denver page to learn more! 

FeederWatch

FeederWatch engages people in observing birds and mammals that visit backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. You choose the location, when to count, and how much time to observe. Joining the FeederWatch community is fun, educational, and rewarding—your observations provide unique insight into the lives of backyard birds and help us track avian populations over time.



Get started with FeederWatch here!

Great Backyard Bird Count

From February 14-17, The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) will take place across the world. The GBBC is a community science project where anyone can participate by counting the birds they see in their backyard (or a nearby park) and reporting the data online. Whether you’re a seasoned birdwatcher or a beginner, your observations are valuable for conservation! 


How to participate: 

  • Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 14–17, 2025. Identify all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location. 
  • Use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings: 
  • If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to bird identification, try using the Merlin Bird ID app to tell us what birds you are seeing or hearing. 
  • If you have participated in the count before and want to record numbers of birds, try the eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).  
  • If you already use Merlin or eBird, all entries over the 4 days count towards GBBC. Keep doing what you are doing! 


If you’d like to participate in the GBBC with a group, we would love to have you join one of our field trips around the Denver area!  Stay tuned – we will post field trip locations in early January.


Have a group of 10 or more? Schedule a FREE one-hour presentation at your site to teach your group how to identify birds and use apps to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Christmas Bird Count

You can add to a century of community science by signing up to join a Christmas Bird Count near you! The CBC is the nation’s longest-running community science bird project, occurring between December 14 and January 5 every season. Each count takes place in an established 15-mile diameter circle and is organized by a count compiler. Participants follow specified routes, counting every bird they see or hear. CBC data have been used in hundreds of analyses, peer-reviewed publications, and government reports over the decades.


Birders of all skills sets are involved in the CBC. The Denver Audubon hosts the “Denver Urban” circle every year on January 1 and supports the Douglas County Christmas Bird Count, which takes place on the Saturday after Christmas. Sign up on our website to join one of our trips! Check back towards the end of the year to see events and sign up to be a part of the Christmas Bird Count.





City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is an annual four-day global bioblitz at the end of April, where cities are in a collaboration-meets-friendly-competition to see what can be accomplished when we all work toward a common goal. Knowing what species are in our city and where they are helps us study and protect them, but the ONLY way to do that is by all of us – scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the nature in our area. By participating in the City Nature Challenge, not only do you learn more about your local nature, but you can also make your city a better place – for you and other species!

 

Last year, the Denver-Boulder Metro area had 385 participants who logged 4,544 observations of 940 different species! This year, the challenge will take place from April 25-28, with results announced on May 5. Let’s double our numbers from last year! 


How can you participate? It’s easy! 

 

  1. Find Wildlife: It can be any WILD plant, animal, fungi, slime mold, or any other evidence of life found in your city. 
  2. Take a Picture of Record a Sound: Take a picture or record the sound of what you find. Be sure to note the location of the critter or plant. 
  3. Share: Share your observations through iNaturalist, a free and easy-to-use app. If it’s planted or taken care of by people, mark it as captive/cultivated! 


Winter Raptor Surveys

Winter Raptor Surveys through HMA (Hawk Migration Association of North America) are community science projects that monitor populations of diurnal raptors—like hawks, eagles, falcons, and harriers—during the winter months.


The goal is to track long-term population trends and distribution changes of these birds outside of the migration and breeding seasons. Volunteers drive pre-determined survey routes across open landscapes, recording all raptors seen along the way. Surveys typically take place between December and February, when raptors are settled in their winter territories.


The data collected help scientists and conservationists understand how land use, climate, and habitat changes affect raptor populations, and they contribute to broader efforts to conserve birds of prey across North America.


Email Audrey if you'd like to get involved!