The much-maligned El Niño of 1997-98 can't be blamed for bird shortages, bird surpluses or other avian population perturbations -- at least not yet -- say Cornell ornithologists who are analyzing reports from 13,000 North American citizen-scientists in Project FeederWatch.

Continentwide, the Top 10 List of Feeder Birds for Winter 1997-98 looks a lot like the 1996-97 list, according to the number-crunchers at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

"We know that rain was a major preoccupation last winter for humans in California, but it didn't seem to bother the birds," says Wes Hochachka, research scientist and assistant director of Bird Population Studies at the Ithaca-based laboratory. "FeederWatchers reported essentially the same numbers of birds as they had in previous years."

But that was last season. Project FeederWatch hopes to enroll more volunteers than ever for upcoming season. With additional FeederWatchers, researchers will be able to detect possible second-year effects of El Niño as well as direct effects of the predicted La Ni–a weather event and other natural phenomena, such as fluctuations in food sources.

Anyone with a bird feeder outside the window, anywhere in North America, can join Project FeederWatch by calling 1-800-843-BIRD, a toll-free call in the United States, or (519) 586-3531 from Canada. The address in the U.S. is Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Project FeederWatch, P.O. Box 11, Ithaca, N.Y. 14851-0011. In Canada, write to: Bird Studies Canada, Box 160, Port Rowan, Ontario, N0E, 1M0, Canada. Or interested bird-watchers can join by visiting the Project FeederWatch web site.

An annual fee of $15 helps cover costs of data analysis and newsletters sent to FeederWatchers. The 12th FeederWatch year gets underway Nov. 14, 1998, although people can sign up to participate in the 1998-99 season through the end of February 1999.

Project FeederWatch is a joint project of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, Canadian Nature and Bird Studies Canada, and it is sponsored by the National Science Foundation as a citizen-science education and research program. The winter-long survey asks thousands of bird-watchers to put their hobby to work for science. Participants count birds at their feeders and periodically enter their counts on data forms -- either electronically at the Project FeederWatch web site or on paper forms sent through the mail. The information helps ornithologists track changes in the abundance and distribution of numerous bird species.

Looking beyond the 1997-98 El Niño, which was blamed for abnormal rain in California and warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Midwest last winter, ornithologists are now wondering about after-effects of the January 1998 ice storm in the Northeast or the hot and dry summer in some Southeast and Western states.

"We will compare this coming year's FeederWatch data with data from previous years and look for evidence that the ice storm or the drought affects birds that visit feeders," Hochachka says. "It will be interesting to see what FeederWatchers tell us."

For FeederWatchers who don't mind human company, sunflower seeds can attract more than birds to the backyard. Linda Hoyt of Brant Lake, N.Y., counted 200 people when word got out of her November 1997 rare-bird sighting -- a Lewis' Woodpecker, which usually stays west of the Rockies.

"I stuck a homemade sign in a snow bank with the silhouette of a Lewis' Woodpecker at the end of our driveway to let birders know they had the right place," Hoyt said. During the 13 days the woodpecker feasted at the Adirondack Mountains home, Hoyt learned to predict when and where visiting birders might best observe the rare find. And the celebrity woodpecker began to dive-bomb more common feeder birds while making short trips to cache its food in a nearby apple tree.

But by Nov. 30, the Lewis' Woodpecker had moved on, to the disappointment of excited birders who kept on coming. Fortunately, the woodpecker had visited Linda Hoyt's feeder during two of her scheduled FeederWatch Count Days and its visit there is now part of the permanent ornithological record at http://feederwatch.org.