Christmas Bird Counts
The Audubon Society engages in an annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) throughout the country centered on Audubon's Important Bird Areas. These counts have been going on since 1900, when Frank Chapman, an early officer in the newly formed Audubon Society proposed a census to be repeated at the same time each year. Previously the count was referred to as the Christmas "side hunt", where all participants would choose sides, then go afield to try to amass the largest pile of animals in order to win the competition. Luckily, this tradition was changed to simply counting the birds and has now been going on for 113 years.
2020-21 marks the 121st year of the nation's longest-running community science bird project. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year's Christmas Bird Counts will be held differently to protect our community.
***COVID-19 Christmas Bird Count Rules***
1. We will forgo the pre & post count meetings, and instead we will be meeting virtually via ZOOM to compile results. If you are interested in joining one (or all) of the counts, please contact the count circle leader for that section to receive instructions and count packets. The contact information for each circle is as follows:
Dec. 15-Sierra Valley: Colin Dillingham (colin.dillingham@usda.gov)
Dec. 17-Lake Almanor: Ryan Burnett (rburnett@pointblue.org)
Dec. 19-American Valley: Darrel Jury (djury@frc.edu)
2. Masks and/or social distancing required at all times.
3. Carpooling may only occur in existing familiar or social "pod" groups.
If you have any questions regarding participation in any of these counts, please contact us.
Methods: Participants follow a specified route contained within a 15 mile diameter circle, centered on a key area. Birders count all birds they see and hear, not just compiling a species list but a census of all birds detected. Each CBC is done in one full day between December 15th and January 5th. Christmas bird counts enable biologists to monitor trends in distribution and diversity across the United States.
Results: The CBC is one of America's longest running citizen science data sets. Plumas Audubon has recently compiled and analyzed data for the last 10 years of local Christmas Bird Count events. Our goal is to observe trends in species diversity in order to gain a greater understanding of patterns related to changes in this diversity for future conservation efforts. Below are links to locality-specific trends in species diversity and raw data spanning a ten-year time frame from 2010-2019.
2020-21 marks the 121st year of the nation's longest-running community science bird project. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year's Christmas Bird Counts will be held differently to protect our community.
***COVID-19 Christmas Bird Count Rules***
1. We will forgo the pre & post count meetings, and instead we will be meeting virtually via ZOOM to compile results. If you are interested in joining one (or all) of the counts, please contact the count circle leader for that section to receive instructions and count packets. The contact information for each circle is as follows:
Dec. 15-Sierra Valley: Colin Dillingham (colin.dillingham@usda.gov)
Dec. 17-Lake Almanor: Ryan Burnett (rburnett@pointblue.org)
Dec. 19-American Valley: Darrel Jury (djury@frc.edu)
2. Masks and/or social distancing required at all times.
3. Carpooling may only occur in existing familiar or social "pod" groups.
If you have any questions regarding participation in any of these counts, please contact us.
Methods: Participants follow a specified route contained within a 15 mile diameter circle, centered on a key area. Birders count all birds they see and hear, not just compiling a species list but a census of all birds detected. Each CBC is done in one full day between December 15th and January 5th. Christmas bird counts enable biologists to monitor trends in distribution and diversity across the United States.
Results: The CBC is one of America's longest running citizen science data sets. Plumas Audubon has recently compiled and analyzed data for the last 10 years of local Christmas Bird Count events. Our goal is to observe trends in species diversity in order to gain a greater understanding of patterns related to changes in this diversity for future conservation efforts. Below are links to locality-specific trends in species diversity and raw data spanning a ten-year time frame from 2010-2019.
The mission of Plumas Audubon is to promote understanding, appreciation, and protection of the biodiversity of the Feather River Region, especially birds, through education, research, and the restoration and conservation of natural ecosystems.
Photo Credits: Plumas Audubon Society and Willi Hall
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
© COPYRIGHT 2017. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.