125th Christmas Bird Count

Join Chapter members for the 125th annual Christmas Bird Count.  Members can participate as long as they want during the count (all day or a few hours) or count at their feeders (as long as the feeder location lies within the 15 mile diameter count circle).  Contact Debra Halter for more information.  Participation is free, but you must be assigned to an area by one of the count leaders.

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters 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 (and furred) quarry won.

Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. In 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition —a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than kill them.

So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Chapman and the enthusiasm of 27 dedicated birders, 25 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.  From December 14 through January 5, each year tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action.

The data collected by observers over the past century allow Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years.

Long term perspective is vital for conservationists. It informs strategies to protect birds and their habitats and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people, as well.  The Wichita Falls count was started in 1972.