If you have 15 minutes this long weekend, you can help researchers track bird populations. C.J. Spang has more on the Great Backyard Bird Count.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

PROVIDENCE, N.Y. -- Nancy Castillo and Lois Geshiwlm consider themselves bird enthusiasts.

"It's something that I have in my life every day," said Castillo. "Every day I can hear just what you're hearing and see that flash of color and everything. They just add a lot to my life. "

And this President's Day weekend has a little bit more meaning for bird-lovers.

"It employs enthusiasts from across the country to count the birds and be their eyes out in the field," Castillo said. "Scientists can't be in as many places as we as citizens can be. "

The Great Backyard Bird Count is Friday through Monday. It's organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society as a way to help track bird populations.

"It's just making an awareness," said Geshiwlm, who owns the Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop with Castillo. "When we come to appreciate our planet, birds are one way to maybe take a little more of a look at our planet and how it is and make us a little more conscientious about the world around us."

But don't think you have to be a bird expert to take part this weekend. All you need is 15 minutes and a watchful eye.

"What's nice is it's not a very large investment of time," Geshiwlm said. "You don't have to be advanced in your knowledge of birds. Just the knowledge you have is kind of what they're looking for."

Results of the count must be submitted online by March 1.