Neighborhood Bird Project
Neighborhood Bird Project monitors bird species diversity in urban wildlife habitats (a.k.a. city parks and greenspaces) throughout the Seattle area thanks to the work of community scientists, and empowers community members to become advocates for wildlife habitat conservation.
Volunteer for a Neighborhood Bird Project near you!
Volunteers conduct bird surveys at multiple points along a loop once a month in Seattle area parks, and then enter the data into an online database. Learn more about the survey protocol here.
The project’s name includes neighborhood because the intent is to enlist volunteers primarily from the neighborhood surrounding the park being surveyed. By regularly visiting their survey sites each month, volunteers are able to observe what birds use that space as the seasons change, as well as see how plants, bodies of water, and other wildlife change seasonally. In doing so, we hope volunteers develop personal connections to their survey routes and with their fellow surveyors, and become advocates for the wildlife and greenspaces in their communities.
Survey Sites, Dates, and Leaders
Neighborhood Bird Project currently operates in ten survey sites around the region. Counts are conducted on a monthly basis. View the Neighborhood Bird Project sites through GoogleMaps.
| Tiffany Linbo | Carkeek Park | 1st Saturday | intermediate |
| Richard Youel | Genesee Park | 1st Saturday | all welcome |
| Christine Scheele (temporary) | Discovery Park | 1st Saturday | all welcome |
| Jeremy Schwartz | Lake Forest Park | 1st Sunday | all welcome |
| Jane Glass | Golden Gardens | 1st Sunday | all welcome |
| Mike Witter | Seward Park | 2nd Saturday | intermediate |
| Whitney Neufeld-Kaiser | Magnuson Park | 2nd Saturday | all welcome |
| Connie Sidles (temporary) | Cheasty Greenspace | 2nd Saturday | all welcome |
| Kersti Muul | Lincoln Park | 3rd Sunday | all welcome |
| Penny Bolton | Arboretum | 3rd Saturday | intermediate/birding by ear skills |
* A significant amount of the birding in some parks is birding by ear due to heavy tree cover. Park leaders are willing to work with volunteers on this skill. New volunteers: please let us know your experience with birding by ear when you express interest in this project so we can find you a survey site that fits your needs, and the needs of NBP park leaders.
Volunteer Resources
Project History
In 1994, Birds Connect Seattle launched the Neighborhood Bird Project in several King County habitat areas with the goals of assessing species diversity and empowering citizens to advocate for wildlife habitat in their communities’ land-use issues. The project began in Carkeek Park in Seattle, Shadow Lake Bog in Kent, and a private property in Woodinville. Additional sites were added as interest increased. The most recent additions to the project are Lincoln Park (January 2017) and Cheasty Greenspace (2021).
Data Applications and Usage
The data collected by volunteers has been utilized in many way to better understand local bird populations and conservation concerns.
If you are interested in using Neighborhood Bird Project data for your own research, please contact Christine Scheele at christines@birdsconnectsea.org.
Habitat Restoration Effectiveness
Data from the Neighborhood Bird Project has been used to investigate the effectiveness of restoration work in four of Seattle’s urban parks – Carkeek Park, Discovery Park, Golden Gardens, and Magnuson Park. The report that was produced from this analysis is entitled: Impacts of Habitat Restoration and the Status of Avian Communities in Seattle City Parks. download the report (1650 KB, pdf)
Hummingbird Populations
University of Washington undergraduate, Lauren Rowe, analyzed Rufous and Anna’s Hummingbird presence data from the Neighborhood Bird Project, Christmas Bird Count, North American Breeding Bird Survey, and other datasets to learn about how these two species populations have changed in suburban and urban areas of Western Washington. This report was entitled: Rufous (Selasphorus rufus) and Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) population changes in Western Washington. download the report(943 KB, pdf).
Neighborhood Bird Project volunteers at Carkeek Park