From humble beginnings
nearly a century ago as a protest to the excessive slaughter of birds, the
National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count has become the world's largest
all-volunteer bird survey. More than 45,000 people participate each year in
this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their
efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology,
representing close to one hundred years of unbroken data on trends of
early-winter bird populations across the Americas. Simply put, the Christmas
Bird Count, or "CBC", is citizen science in action.
Up until the turn of the
century, people commonly engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas
"Side Hunt": They would choose sides and go afield with their guns;
whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered quarry won. Conservation was
in its beginning stages at the turn of the century, and many observers were
becoming concerned about the indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife, and
concurrent declines in bird populations. On Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist
Frank Chapman, an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society, called for
an end to the slaughter. He suggested that, rather than shooting birds, people
count them instead. So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the
inspiration of Frank M. Chapman and the perspiration of twenty-seven dedicated
birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations
ranged from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California with most counts in
or near the population centers of northeastern North America. Those original 27
Christmas Bird Counters tallied a total of 90 species on all the counts
combined. Today there are more than 2000 CBCs held in
every state and Canadian Province, and in many Latin American countries. The
CBC, like the conservation movement it heralded, has truly come of age!
The data from 98 years (and
counting) of Christmas Bird Counts yield valuable insights into the shifting
patterns, distributions, and population trends of bird species during the count
period, which is from mid-December to early January. This period is referred to
as "early winter," because many birds at this time are still in the
late stages of their southward migration, so it is not "true" winter.
When we combine these data with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey
and Project FeederWatch - as we are doing with BirdSource - we begin to see a clearer picture of how
American bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred
years. The information is also vital for conservation. For example, local
trends in bird populations can indicate habitat fragmentation or signal an
immediate environmental threat.
Volunteers are the heart and
soul of the CBC. From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers
and regional editors, everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count does
it for love of birds and the excitement of friendly competition -- and with the
knowledge that their efforts are making a difference for science and bird
conservation.
As long as there are birds
to be counted, the Christmas Bird Count will go on being the most popular, fun,
and rewarding bird census the world over!
Counts conducted in first
CBC: 25 total counts
*Scotch Lake, York County,
New Brunswick
* Toronto, Ontario
* Keene, New Hampshire
* Belmont and Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Massachusetts
* Winchester, Massachusetts
* Bristol, Connecticut
* Norwalk, Connecticut
* Auburn to Owasco Lake, New York
* Central Park, New York City, New York
* Englewood, New Jersey
* Moorestown, New Jersey
* Newfield, New Jersey
* Neshaminy Creek & Upper Delaware River,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Delaware River Meadows, Tinicum Township, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania
* Germantown, Pennsylvania
* Wyncote, Pennsylvania
* Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
* Oberlin, Ohio
* Glen Elyn, Illinois
* North Freedom, Sauk County, Wisconsin
* La Grange, Missouri
* Baldwin, Louisiana
* Pueblo, Colorado
* Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California
First CBC: December 25, 1900
About 18,500 individual birds and 27 total participants
Cumulative bird species
list:
90 species total
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
American Black Duck
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Northern Goshawk
American Kestrel
Northern Bobwhite
California Quail
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Ruffed Grouse
Killdeer
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Band-tailed Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Burrowing Owl
Common Poor-will
Anna's Hummingbird
White-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Lewis' Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Black Phoebe
Blue Jay
Scrub Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-billed Magpie
European Starling
Horned Lark
American Pipit
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Brown Creeper
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Mountain Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Plain Titmouse
Bushtit
Wrentit
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Brown Creeper
Northern Shrike
Loggerhead Shrike
Eastern Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Varied Thrush
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
Hutton's Vireo
Townsend's Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Spotted Towhee
Canyon Towhee
Northern Cardinal
American Tree Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Pine Grosbeak
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Red Crossbill