The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest-running citizen science project in the world. In its 120th year now, the National Audubon Society is starting this year’s CBC season, organizing counts in hundreds of locations. Data gathered by volunteers has historically been critical to our understanding of how bird populations change over time.
In this day and age, with bird populations declining sometimes precipitously, it is critically important that many people participate and help us count the birds that are present on a CBC count day. This is an early-winter bird census that shows what birds are wintering in our backyards, and thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada, and many countries in the Western Hemisphere will go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds. Each count takes place in an established 15-mile wide diameter circle, and is organized by a count compiler. You don’t have to participate for an entire day, nor do you have to cover the entire count area to be a valuable contributor to this project. Even reporting the birds that are on your backyard feeder helps.
There are two CBC counts in our area: Warren (PA) and Jamestown (NY). The Warren count takes place on Saturday 12/14, whereas the Jamestown count takes place the next day, on 12/15. If you are interested in participating and contributing your bird observations, please contact RTPI and we can provide you with a map of the survey area and forms to document your observations. If you would like to partner with other bird watchers, please say so and we would be happy to find a match in your area.
You can learn more about the Christmas Bird Count at: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count and you can sign up to participate in the Jamestown or Warren counts by contacting Twan Leenders at RTPI (716-665 2473, or tleenders@rtpi.org). Hope to see you out there!
