It is one of the country's biggest scientific participation campaigns: for the 15th time, Austrians are called upon to become short-term ornithologists during the “Winter Bird Hour”.
Many things can be “exciting”. How your favorite series continues after the cliffhanger. How was the decisive election of the National Council. Or whether the waxwing will appear in greater numbers in Austria this weekend.
For Evelyn Hofer, the latter would be a definite highlight for this year's “Winter Bird Hour,” which takes place January 5-7. In the country's largest citizen science project (according to their own statements), people across Austria are encouraged to count and identify birds and report their observations for an hour. “You can count in the garden, in the courtyard, in the park, if you have a food station on the balcony or a group of trees in front of the window. You can participate anywhere,” says biologist Hofer from Birdlife Austria. The bird protection NGO is organizing the Winter Bird Hour for the 15th time this year, and almost 25 thousand people followed the call in 2023.