WILDLIFE WATCHING -- The 18th annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be conducted across the continent Feb. 12-15.

Getting involved is almost as easy as looking out your window.

GBBC participants count birds anywhere for as little or as long as they wish during the four-day period.

They tally the highest number of birds of each species seen together at any one time. To report their counts, they fill out an online checklist.

As this count progresses, anyone with Internet access can explore what is being reported from their own towns or anywhere in the United States and Canada.

They can also see how this year's numbers compare with those from previous years. Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see for the GBBC’s on-line photo gallery.

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.