All birds are welcome. All birders are welcome. So, dig out your binoculars, layer up, and head outside to count birds!
Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is one of the world’s longest-running community science events. Started in 1900 by ornithologist Frank M. Chapman as an alternative to the traditional holiday hunt when teams would compete to see which could bring home the most game. The Bird Count was launched to count, rather than to hunt, birds in the wild.
Since most birds now have completed migration and are settled on their wintering grounds, you might expect that populations and species identified by today’s CBC participants would not have changed much since the survey’s launch 125 years ago. Instead, CBC data has documented dramatic decreases in bird populations and shifted species ranges, and been included in over 300 peer-reviewed studies.
Get ready to participate and then enjoy the journey. Birding can be a great family bonding experience and a way to connect with the young people in your life. Elementary-aged kids might enjoy reading Counting Birds: The idea that helped save our feathered friends by Haidi E.Y. Stemple or Bird Count by Susan Edwards Richmond.