MARION — The town’s Natural History Museum hosted Justin Barrett of the Nasketucket Bird Club and his wife Jess to teach about the Great Backyard Bird Count. 

The bird count is an initiative sponsored by the National Audubon Society which uses information from citizens to track how bird populations are doing. This year, the bird count will take place from Feb. 14 to 17. Birdwatchers spend at least 15 minutes counting the number of birds and bird species that they see, and submit them via a website. 

Students started the program outside, where they found robins, chickadees, titmice, song sparrows, red-winged blackbirds and others. Students then went inside to design their own birds, including some that looked like super-heroes.