Audubon 2009 Christmas bird count is in full swing. This annual citizen science event creates data that has proven vital to conservation over its 110 year history. Last year the Audubon Society released an analysis of 40 years of data. Birds and climate change, ecological disruption in motion is a briefing for policymakers and concerned citizens on Audubon’s analyses of North American bird movements in the face of global warming. Citizen scientists collected most of the data in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The count is a not only essential to science. Birdwatchers love to participate. Birding is the number one sport in America. According to US Fish and Wildlife Service, there are currently 51.3 million birders in the United States alone, and this number continues to grow!
This years count began December 14, 2009 and runs through January 5, 2010. From Alaska to Antarctica, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the hemisphere will add a new layer to over a century of bird population information.
Scientist rely on this remarkable trend data to better understand how birds and the environment are faring throughout North America – and what needs to be done to protect them. Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies. CBC data informed the first U. S State of the Birds Report, issued earlier this year by the Department of the Interior in partnership Audubon and with a dozen other conservation organizations. CBC analysis also fueled Audubon’s February report that revealed the dramatic impact that Climate Change is already having on birds across the continent.
The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 when the founder of Bird-Lore (the progenitor of Audubon magazine), Frank Chapman, suggested an alternative to the “side hunt,” in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most game, including birds. Chapman proposed that people “hunt” birds only to identify, count, and record them. These Binocular Brigades often brave winter’s chill, ice and snow to record changes in resident populations and ranges, before spring migrants return.
“When Frank Chapman started the Christmas Bird Census, it was a visionary act,” said Audubon President John Flicker. “No one could have predicted how important the CBC would become as a resource and tool for conservation. It allows birds to send us a wake up call about the importance of addressing the warming of our climate and the loss of vital habitat through action at every level.”
CBC data not only helps identify birds in most urgent need of conservation action; it reveals success stories. The Christmas Bird Count helped document the comeback of the previously endangered Bald Eagle, and significant increases in waterfowl populations, both the result of conservation efforts.
“Everyone who takes part in the Christmas Birds Count plays a critical role in helping us focus attention and conservation where it is most needed.” said Audubon Chief Scientist, Dr. Tom Bancroft, “In addition to Audubon’s reports on the impacts of Climate Change on birds and our analysis of Common Birds in Decline, it is the foundation for Audubon’s WatchList, which identified species in need of conservation help.
“The Christmas Bird Count is all about the power of Citizen Science” says Geoff LeBaron, Audubon's Christmas Bird Count director. “Our theme is ’I Count’ because the work of tens of thousands of volunteers, extending one hundred and ten years, really adds up for the conservation of birds and our environment.”
The prestigious journal Nature issued an editorial citing CBC as a "model" for Citizen Science.
Last year, The Economist described it as "A splendid tradition in its 109th year."
A New York Times opinion piece captured the pleasure and precision of counting: “The personal joy they experience from patiently spotting and jotting down each flitting fellow creature, exotic or not, is balanced by a strong pragmatic factor in the management of the census by the National Audubon Society.”
Counts are often multi-generational family or community traditions that make for fascinating stories. Accuracy is assured by having new participants join an established group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher. Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle or can arrange in advance to count the birds at home feeders inside the circle and submit the results to a designated compiler. All individual Christmas Bird Counts are conducted between December 14 and January 5 (inclusive) each season, with each individual count occupying a single calendar day.
To learn how to identify birds, and become a bird watcher, locate an Audubon Center near you. Meanwhile, here are a few Birding Basics.
For more information about Christmas Bird Count: www.audubon.org/bird/cbc
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