Winter Backyard Bird Tally Log for Families: 15-Minute Count Sheets and a February Plan

A family with a feeder, a bare tree or just a kitchen window can count winter birds for fifteen minutes at a time and keep every count in one place. Six tally sheets list fifteen birds, each with a small drawing, so a nine-year-old can find the row and make a mark.

What is inside, in order: how the log works and a page for your own window (pages 2 to 3); how a 15-minute count goes, with a box to choose your family's counting rule (page 4); fifteen birds drawn by us and described by size, color, call and place, among them the Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpecker and White-throated Sparrow (pages 5 to 8); a size and color finder for birds you cannot name (page 9); six tally sheets (pages 10 to 15); a plan for the four-day February count, which Audubon's page says runs February 12 to 15, 2027, with a slot for each day (page 16); two season logs (pages 17 and 18); two Bird of the Day pages for the youngest counter (pages 19 and 20); a page for reporting totals and writing results (page 21); and the sources (page 22).

The bird descriptions are written in our own words from National Park Service pages named in the book, and the drawings are ours. The count is Audubon's; its page says the checklists help researchers at Audubon, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. This log is not made by them, and it points you to birdcount.org for their instructions.

Prints on US Letter, with margins that also suit A4.

This printable was created with the help of AI tools, then checked fact by fact.

Made by Made for This Day — we wrote it, we sell it, and we answer for it.

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