You may have heard the news that birds are slowly disappearing from the landscape. Populations of some birds are down by over 95%, but the number of birds in general is down by 29%. The National Audubon Society claims that over one in four birds disappeared in the last fifty years. A critical thinking person might look at that number and think “What? Who’s out there counting the birds?”.
It’s a good question. I tend to be a little skeptical when I hear grand sweeping proclamations like that and want to learn more about where that information came from. How exactly do scientists come up with such specific numbers like a 29% loss of birds in fifty years? The answer truly does lie in the counting, and the most important part of the counting relies on crews of dedicated volunteers during the Christmas Bird Count.
The origins of the Christmas Bird Count go back to the beginnings of the National Audubon Society and a 19th century tradition known as the Christmas Side Hunt. On Christmas Day, teams spread out through the countryside, shooting every small animal they could find, including birds. The number of animals killed by each team was tallied at the end of the day and a winner declared.
Early Audubon member Frank Chapman proposed a bird census to take place instead of the side hunt and the Christmas Bird Count was born. Twenty-seven people in North America participated in that first count in 1900. Birds have been counted each year since and over 79,000 people participated in the 2019 count.
I was one of those 79,425 people counting birds last year. Actually, I was probably two of them, since I participated in counts in Jamestown and Warren. The counts in this area don’t go all the way back to 1900, but they have been done in Warren, PA since 1939 and in Jamestown, NY since 1923, though the Jamestown numbers have a big gap from 1930 to 1945.
Teams spread out in a 10 mile count circle and count every bird they see. The count coordinator makes sure that each team goes to a different part of the count circle so that birds are not likely to be double counted. After that, each team identifies and counts the birds they see.
There is some fancy math that takes place to account for number of people counting and the number of hours put in. The weather can wreak havoc on a count. Last year, it rained steadily for the entire time we were out, coating everything in a layer of wet. That day taught me that my “waterproof” binoculars were only water resistant when one side fogged up, then froze into ice crystals to make the binoculars worthless the next day.
In the end, after all the counts are in and all the fancy math applied, the numbers of birds continues to go down. There are lots of theories for why this is true. These range from insecticides and outdoor cats to climate change and non-native plants.
The Christmas Bird Count is a great excuse to hang out and watch birds with people who know birds. There are only three days a year that I devote a good chunk of the day to birding, and the Christmas Bird Count in Warren and Jamestown are two of those days. For me, it’s not just looking at birds, it is helping scientists learn more about them while also learning from birders that know more than me.
The Christmas Bird Count will take place on the weekend of December 19 and 20, with the Warren Count taking place on December 19 and the Jamestown Count taking place on December 20. To participate in the Warren Count, please contact Don Watts at (814) 723-9125. To participate in the Jamestown Count, contact Bill Seleen at (716) 386-3209.
Audubon Community Nature Center is about more than birds. ACNC builds and nurtures connections between people and nature. ACNC is located just east of Route 62 between Warren and Jamestown. The trails are open from dawn to dusk as is Liberty, the Bald Eagle. The Nature Center is partially open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Open areas include restrooms, the Blue Heron Gift Shop, and first floor exhibits. More information can be found online at auduboncnc.org or by calling (716) 569-2345.
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