During the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, bird enthusiasts can do what they love and help with conservation at the same time.

"It gives us valuable data from what we call citizen science," said Paul Koehler, the director of the Silver Bluff Audubon Center. "It gives us a heads-up as far as what our conservation needs are, and it gives us a good look at what birds are where, and how many."

The annual event begins Friday and ends Monday. People across the country are urged to go into their yards, neighborhood parks and other spots and conduct bird counts.

Participants record the species and number of birds they see and report the information at www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

Participants may spend as little or as much time as they like counting birds, Mr. Koehler said.

Eugene Zielinski, the president of the Aiken-Augusta Audubon chapter, participated in the event last year.

"I chose to go out to Clarks Hill Lake because I go out there regularly and always see some interesting birds," he said. "I went out for just two hours, and in that time period I counted close to 100 ruddy ducks as well as some other kinds of birds."

He urges everyone to participate.

"It's a good excuse to walk around and have a good learning experience at the same time," he said. "It's definitely a lot of fun."

Mr. Koehler said the center doesn't have any activities planned for the count; however, people may visit the wildlife center to count birds on their own.

The Silver Bluff Audubon Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The annual bird count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. For more information, visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.