Photo: Contributed - Claude Rioux

It's time to get out the binoculars.

The great backyard bird count takes place Feb. 12-15.

People are being urged to count birds for as little as 15 minutes, or as long as they wish, on one or more days of the four-day event.

They are then asked to report sightings online.

The checklists submitted help researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing and how to protect them and the environment we share.

Organizers call it an instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations.

Last year, more than 140,000 people took part.