Winter bird survey in French gardens, two complementary schemes for a wide array of questions

In France, two citizen science schemes focus on birds in gardens: namely the popular French Garden Birdwatch (FGB, "Oiseaux des Jardins" in French) and the innovative BirdLab. Here, we describe both schemes and discuss their interest in regards with conservation and ecological questions that can be addressed. We highlight and discuss differences and synergies between the participation of these two surveys. They are very complementary and we encourage observers to implement both protocols. We suggest that BirdLab could be implemented in other European countries.