The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

and administered by the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

. The purpose is to provide population data for use in science, especially

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an i ...

, though many people participate for recreation. The CBC is the longest-running

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

survey in the world.

History

In the 19th century, many North Americans participated in the tradition of

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

"side hunts", in which they competed at how many birds they could kill. In December 1900, the U.S. ornithologist Frank Chapman, founder of ''Bird-Lore'' (which became '' Audubon'' magazine), proposed counting birds on Christmas instead of killing them. On Christmas Day of that year, 27 observers took part in the first count in 25 places in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The participants counted 18,500 birds in 90 species. Since then the counts have been held every winter, usually with increasing numbers of observers. The 101st count, in the winter of 2000–2001, involved 52,471 people in 1,823 places in 17 countries (but mostly in the U.S. and Canada). During the 113th count (winter 2012–2013), 71,531 people participated in 2,369 locations. The National Audubon Society now partners with Bird Studies Canada, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(responsible for CBCs in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

), and the Red Nacional de Observadores de Aves (RNOA, National Network of Bird Observers) and the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. The greatest number of bird species ever reported by any U.S. location in a single count is 250, observed on December 19, 2005, in the Matagorda County-Mad Island Marsh count circle around Matagorda and Palacios, Texas. The greatest number of bird species ever reported by a CBC circle in the world is 531, observed on December 21, 2013, in the Cosanga-Narupa count (previously known as the Yanayacu count) on the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador.

Methods

Each individual count is performed in a "count circle" with a diameter of .{{Cite web, url=https://www.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count-compiler-resources#26, title=Christmas Bird Count Compiler Resources, last=, date=January 8, 2018, publisher=National Audubon Society, at=I'd like to set up a new Christmas Bird Count circle, what do I do?, access-date=August 26, 2018 At least ten volunteers, including a compiler to manage things, count in each circle. They break up into small parties and follow assigned routes, which change little from year to year, counting every bird they see. In most count circles, some people also watch feeders instead of following routes. Counts can be held on any day from December 14 to January 5 inclusive. The results, providing data on winter ranges of birds, are complementary to those of the Breeding Bird Surveys.

References

External links

Audubon Official CBC page
(in Spanish) Bird censuses Ornithological citizen science

History

Methods

See also

References

External links