Many local birders make room for bird watching in their hectic Christmas schedule, because the 111th Christmas Bird Count is on until Jan. 5.
Each year thousands of backyard birders, amateur naturalists and ornithologists across North America converge on birding areas to count all the birds they can find.
A bird count area is a 24-kilometre diameter circle divided into sections. Each section is surveyed by a team of birders on a single day over 24 hours between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
Not only experts to participate. Some people choose to count the birds at their backyard feeders while others will be out for an entire day from before dawn until dusk to call for owls.
Each bird count area has a coordinator who organizes the count, compiles the data and sends it to the National Audubon Society.
The bird count started in the 1800s as a very different kind of event – the annual side hunt. People chose sides or teams and whoever shot the most birds and mammals was the winner.
In 1900, American ornithologist Frank Chapman foresaw the decline of some species. He suggested an annual Christmas Bird Census. On Christmas day 1900, Fannie E. Jones in Toronto took part in the first ever Christmas Bird Count. Today the bird counts do not have to be on Christmas day but can take place any day during the two weeks centred on Christmas Day.
It is a fun event giving people the chance to explore natural areas and learn about birds. The information they collect is used to track population trends locally and nationally.
Bird count data was used to recognize the decline in black duck populations and more recently an increase in dove populations in North America.
At the end of the bird count day there is usually a gathering or wrap-up to compare what was found, have some warm food and share stories of the day.
At one count I participated in, we heard Great Horned Owls calling in an area where we had never heard them before only to find out at the wrap-up that it was another group of birders calling from the edge of their bird count area.
If you would like to participate there are several Christmas Bird Counts in the Grand River watershed including Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Brant County.
For information, visit the website for Bird Studies Canada www.bsc-eoc.org.
Bird Count Contacts:
Guelph: Mike Cadman, 519-822-9834 or cadman1@sympatico.ca
Cambridge: Levi Moore 519-747-2080, lcmoore_04@yahoo.ca
Kitchener-Waterloo and area: Mike Burrell 519-699-4695, lpbo@bsc-eoc.org
Brant County: Duane Brown 519-442-7269 dbrown@grandriver.ca
