Survey Instructions

Collecting data for Project Phoenix is easy! You pick where and when you’d like to monitor birds. Once a week, you survey birds for 10 minutes and share your observations with us.

Where:

Up to you! Our volunteers choose where they monitor birds for Project Phoenix. Your site could be a yard, park, or city street – any space that is accessible and convenient for you. We encourage our volunteers to choose sites they find personally meaningful, such as their home or community center.

Your site does not have to be outside. You are welcome to monitor birds indoors from a window if you would prefer.

When:

We collect data between July 1 and November 30. Volunteers are welcome to sign up and start collecting data at any time, even if there are only a few weeks left in our study period. We accept volunteers on a rolling basis. Enrollment for our 2025 data collection season is open.

**UPDATE 1/23/25: Many prospective volunteers have expressed interest in joining Project Phoenix to help us monitor bird responses to the historic fires currently impacting communities in Los Angeles County. Although January is outside our typical data collection season, our team is certainly interested in any additional surveys volunteers are able to contribute at this time. More information will be sent to volunteers after signing up.

How:

First, sign up as a volunteer! Our sign-up form asks you to provide basic information about yourself, like your birding experience and how you heard about us.

Next, register your site, or sites! Our site registration form asks you to provide basic information about your monitoring site. Birds use different types of habitat and resources, so it's important to know a bit more about the sites our volunteers are surveying.

Finally, start monitoring birds! Conduct a 10-minute survey of the birds at your monitoring site, ideally once a week. Here’s how:

1. Pick a spot to sit or stand during the survey. (This spot should be consistent from week to week.)

2. Start a timer.

3. Record all the birds you see and/or hear for 10 minutes.

4. Submit your observations to eBird. Tag your checklist by adding #ProjectPhoenix to the comments. New to eBird? Click here for more detailed step-by-step instructions. Click here for a video demonstration.

That’s it!

We understand that our volunteers might not be able to survey their monitoring site every week. We appreciate you making the time to conduct weekly surveys at your site whenever you are able to.