Christmas Bird Count
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS
Sponsored by the Pilchuck Audubon Society
No participation fee
EVERETT - December 15, 2012 (Everett Herald article, 1/2/13)
EDMONDS - December 22, 2012
This will be the 113th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) and it takes place from Dec 14, 2012 to January 5, 2013. The local counts occur on one day during this time period. It is the longest running Citizen Science survey in the world and provides critical data on population trends. In 2011, tens of thousands of participants gathered data from a new record total of 2248 CBCs that included 410 in Canada, 1739 in the United States, and 99 counts in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands.
The data collected by observers over the past century has allowed researchers, conservation biologists and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys, it provides a picture of how the continent's bird populations have changed temporarily and spatially over the past hundred years. This long-term perspective provides the basis for strategies to protect birds and their habitat.
A Christmas Bird Count takes place within a 15-mile diameter circle, which is further divided into smaller count areas that are surveyed by teams of bird watchers (i.e., birders). The Everett CBC circle has 14 count areas, and a map of these areas will be posted on this web site in the near future. There are 13 count areas in the Edmonds CBC. Three areas were split into north and south units to reduce their size, thus making counting more efficient. Of the 13 count areas, nine are located entirely in Snohomish County, three areas are in Snohomish and King Counties, and one is entirely in Island County.
The CBC compiler for Everett is Scott Atkinson and for Edmonds it is Duane Karna. The CBC compilers total the area counts for each CBC and submit them to the Area Compiler, Mike Patterson, who reviews the counts and submits them to the Audubon Society. Patterson is the area compiler for Oregon and Washington and he is located in Astoria, OR.
Birders of all levels of expertise are welcomed to join these CBCs. Beginning birders will be placed in a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher. Birders wishing to participate need to contact the CBC compiler for their area of interest. In addition, if your home is within the boundaries of either the Everett or Edmonds count circles, you can stay home and report the birds that visit your feeder after you have arranged to do so with the count compiler.
Brief Description of the Methodology
Audubon has written a Compiler’s Manual1 that provides detailed instruction for conducting the CBCs. Basically, the total number of birds and the effort required to observe those birds are reported. Concerning the total numbers of birds, a list of those species seen during the CBC will be provided along with a form for reporting rare species2. Bird species are considered rare if they are out of their normal range, occur at an unusual time of year, or in unusual habitat.
Birds seen or heard at home feeders or during nocturnal efforts are recorded and reported separately. If you do a feeder count, you report the number of observers, the total hours of observation, and the total number of birds seen at one time. You do not report the total number of birds seen during your observation period. For nocturnal birding, report the number of hours spent by all teams in the field during non-daylight hours.
For all efforts, team hours and distance (by foot, car, bike, boat and any other means of transportation) are recorded separately and reported3. Hours are rounded to the nearest quarter-hour, and all distances to the nearest quarter-mile or quarter-kilometer. Additionally, for daylight efforts the minimum and maximum number of teams needs to be reported. The number of teams starting the day is the minimum and if those teams split up during the day, the total number of separate teams is the maximum.
Edmonds Annual Reports
Notes:
1. http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/updated_compilers_manual_aug_2012.pdf
2. http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/rarebird_2.pdf
3. http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/documents/guidetocbcpartymileshours.pdf
Christmas Bird Count - Audubon Official Site