Greene County Parks & Trails is partnering with the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology for Project Feeder Watch.

The goal is to monitor the type and number of birds staying in Greene County for the winter.

The event will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 at the Narrows Reserve Nature Center, 2575 Indian Ripple Road in Beavercreek.

“Project Feeder Watch is part of a nationwide citizens science program,” chief naturalist Cris Barnett said. “Cornell Laboratory is the main hub for collecting the feeder watch data from all over the United States. They do stream monitoring, frog and toad monitoring and acid rain monitoring.”

The event is open to the public and participants can learn about cardinals, woodpeckers, finches and more. The program will also teach observers about unusual birds that do not typically winter in Ohio. Binoculars are recommended.

“It gives us an idea of what the environment is like for birds all over the U.S.,” Barnett said. “With climate change we know the birds’ environments are changing. We used to never see the Great Blue Heron, but now they are staying here more.”

Greene County Parks & Trails will also offer a bird feeding class for dummies immediately following Project Feeder Watch.

“It is a play on the word dummies,” Barnett said. “We’re going to set up a mannequin dummy outside, in our bird feeding station. We will put birdseed in their hands. We want to get the birds comfortable with something different in their habitat.”

Naturalists will turn participants into bird-feeding mannequins with an oversized coat and wide-brimmed hat. Visitors will be able to handfeed birds for 10 minutes. The cost is $3 per person.

“We will allow people to take the place of that dummy,” Barnett said. “We will put you in the chair and let the birds eat right out of your hand. It will be the same coat and hat and the birds won’t realize it is now a person.”

The bird feeding will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Feb. 9 and 23 at the Narrows Reserve.

“It is a new twist and people get excited because it’s having wildlife right there. It’s something new and different.”

For more information, call 562-6440 or visit www.co.greene.oh.us/parks.