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. 2021-22 marks the 122st year of the nation's longest-running community science bird project.
2021 Christmas Bird Counts:
When:
Tues, Dec. 14-Sierra Valley: Colin Dillingham (email colin.dillingham@usda.gov / call or text (530) 394-8129 for details)
Sat, Dec. 18-American Valley: Darrel Jury (email djury@frc.edu for details)
Sun, Dec. 19-Chester: Colin Dillingham (email colin.dillingham@usda.gov / call or text (530) 394-8129 for details)
COVID- 19: Please follow recommended protocol by wearing facemasks when social distancing cannot be maintained or while indoors or in vehicles.
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.
2021 Christmas Bird Counts:
When:
Tues, Dec. 14-Sierra Valley: Colin Dillingham (email colin.dillingham@usda.gov / call or text (530) 394-8129 for details)
Sat, Dec. 18-American Valley: Darrel Jury (email djury@frc.edu for details)
Sun, Dec. 19-Chester: Colin Dillingham (email colin.dillingham@usda.gov / call or text (530) 394-8129 for details)
COVID- 19: Please follow recommended protocol by wearing facemasks when social distancing cannot be maintained or while indoors or in vehicles.
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.
