By Tom Schultz
The 123rd Audubon Christmas Bird Count season is almost upon us, and hopefully birders everywhere will be flocking to participate!
This annual event is the longest-running citizen science project in our nation, and the accumulated data has provided bird researchers with vast amounts of population trend and distribution information.
WSO helped to establish many of the 100+ Christmas Bird Count circles in Wisconsin now coordinated each year by the National Audubon Society. WSO strongly encourages its members to participate in one or more counts. And we ALL can contribute – whether as an individual, as a part of a field party, or by counting the birds at our own feeders (providing you live within one of the count circles).
The important thing is to find out where CBC count circles are located near you, and then get in contact with the compiler for that area – to let them know of your interest in participating. Each year the CBC periods runs from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5.Anyone interested should check out the Audubon CBC website to learn how you can help, and look at the CBC online map. You can zoom in to find out where the count circles are located in your area, and then click on any that interest you to learn the name and email address of that circle’s compiler.
The Audubon CBC website can be found at:
https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count
Or simply do a web search for Audubon CBC and scroll down to “Join the Christmas Bird Count.”
Everyone can contribute to this important research effort, AND have a great time looking for birds in your area!
