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Show Audubon Society Readies Annual Yule Bird Count Do not be surprised if some time this week you see a group of people looking through their binoculars into your garden and at your bird feeders. They will be only one team of the 10,000 bird watchers across the United States and Canada who annually participate in the Christmas bird count sponsored by the National Audubon Society. This cooperative spot check inventory of winter birdlife in North America was started by Dr. Frank M. Chapman, dean of American ornothologists during 1900. That year only 25 reports were turned in. Only 27 observers observ-ers participated. At that time no one could have imagined the tremendous interest that would develop in this annual cooperative project. Last year reports from 629 areas were published and more than 10,000 watchers participated. Each team is usually led and directed by an expert at bird identification who stresses how essential accuracy is in such a project. No report of a very unusual species is accepted unless un-less studied carefully by two or more observers or a nationally known bird expert. The Christmas Bird Count is unquestionably the greatest cooperative co-operative survey of wildlife in the entire world. Not only is it fun, but the mass of data given over 60 years is now used by the scientists in studies of the bird population. The 629 counts accepted last year and published in Audubon Field Notes reported a total oi more than 52,000,000 birds of 506 species. Eighteen clubs or bird watching teams reported 140 or more species identified on the chosen day. As might be expected most of these high counts came from mid coastal areas south oi Wilmington, N. C, on Atlantic coast and south of Tomales Bay, Calif., on the Pacific coast. ' Each of the census areas must fit within a circle 15 miles in diameter, approximately 17 sq. miles. Each team must be in the field a minimum of 8 hours. All observations must be made on one of the calendar days made public by the Audubon Society in its publication Audubon Field Notes. The official count period for this year extends from Dec. 20 through Jan. 1. Of the 18 areas reporting 140 or more species on a single day's census. 6 came from Florida, 5 from California, 5 from Texas. Thus three states accounted for 16 of the 18 highest counts. It must be remembered that the purpose of the Bird Counts is not to determine who sees the greatest number of species. It is to determine which birds are present locally at Christmastime. Teams plowing through deep deep snow and enduring zero temperatures in Canada send in just as enthusiastic reports as those from the tropical Florida keys. |
