Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count - National Audubon SocietyNational Audubon Society Slide #3 – Frank Chapman, and a proposal to count birds In 1899, Frank Chapman, bird curator at

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www.christmasbirdcount.org

AudubonAudubon’’s Christmas Bird Counts Christmas Bird Count

Tallying the birds of the Americasfor over a century

Slide #1

The National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, a citizen science project that has been tallying the birds of the Americas for over a century.

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Feather hats were the rageFeather hats were the rage

Slide #2 - Early history of the bird conservation movementOver one hundred years ago, the conservation movement took flight… and not a minute too soon. By 1900, Americans’ belief that our continent’s wildlife was inexhaustible, was displayed in the fashion of the day – hats that contained bird feathers were all the rage. One day while walking in Manhattan, Frank Chapman - publisher of Bird Lore magazine -counted 542 people wearing hats adorned with either entire birds or their plumage–representing a total of 42 bird species. Egrets, in particular, were so highly prized that their feathers were worth twice their weight in gold.

But through the bold efforts of some farsighted Americans, these magnificent creatures and many more were saved… just in time. It was these men and women who founded one of America’s longest-lived and most successful conservation organizations – the National Audubon Society.

The story of Audubon begins a few years earlier, in 1886 when New York publisher, George Bird Grinnell, invited readers of his Forest & Stream magazine to sign a pledge that they would not harm birds. He named this eager group the Audubon Society for the Protection of Birds, named after the famed bird and wildlife artist, John James Audubon. But response was so great he couldn’t keep up and reluctantly had to fold the organization. A decade later, Harriet Hemenway used her home in Boston as the gathering spot for friends who vowed to stop the continued destruction of wildlife. These women started a grassroots movement that quickly became the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

From there, Audubon Societies sprang up across the country. Finally, on January 5, 1905 in New York City, leaders from 31 state organizations formed the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals, later to be named the National Audubon Society.

Other important steps in the history of the bird conservation movement were brewing at the same time period including the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which gives great protection to migratory species of birds, and the Lacey Act, which prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported or sold.

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Frank Chapman, bird curator at the American Museum of Natural History, and an officer of the National Audubon Society

Slide #3 – Frank Chapman, and a proposal to count birds

In 1899, Frank Chapman, bird curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, began publishing Bird-Lore, a publication devoted to the study and protection of birds, and the precursor to today’s Audubon Magazine.

Ornithologists and others were aware that at the turn of the century, that the stocks of game species were being rapidly depleted (remember the passenger pigeon). Christmas day “side hunts’ where popular at the time, where teams of hunters would go out on Christmas day and shoot as many birds as possible to compete against other hunting teams. Frank Chapman wrote about this in Bird Lore.

Through the pages of Bird Lore, Chapman, who would become an officer in the National Audubon Society, proposed an alternative to thistraditional Christmas “side-hunt” of birds asking interested birders of the day to go out and count birds on Christmas Day and submit their checklists promptly to Bird Lore. In 1900, 27 people in 25 localities take part in the first Christmas Bird Count.

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The Christmas Bird The Christmas Bird Count ...built on Count ...built on traditiontradition

Armand Bayou, Texas © Gary Seloff

Concord, Massachusetts© Hilary Wood

Loma Alta, Ecuador © Dusti Becker

Northam

pton, Massachusetts

©G

eoff LeBaron

Slide #4 – The Christmas Bird Count Today So today the Christmas Bird Count has a 111 year long history of counting birds (as of January 2011) and a growing tradition which involves many people over many locations in the western hemisphere.

Each year, from December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission - often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season.

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations - and to help guide conservation action.

From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers and regional editors, everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count does it for love of birds and the excitement of friendly competition -- and with the knowledge that their efforts are making a difference for science and bird conservation.

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How is the How is the Christmas Bird Christmas Bird Count run?Count run?

Where: 15-mile diameter circleWhat: All birds species and individuals seen or heard are counted. Also recorded are weather details, number of counters, the hours and miles spent countingWhen: One 24-hour period from December 14 - January 5 How: Observers count on foot, by car, by boat, by snowmobile, watching feeders, and owling.

All data are reported to compilers who consolidate data and enter into database. Regional editors review and confirm all data.

Slide #5 – What is the Christmas Bird Count and how is it run?

The Christmas Bird Count is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere, go out over a 24 hour period to count birds. Count participants follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. Also recorded are weather details, numbers of counters, the hours and miles spent counting. All activity is organized and reported to compilers who consolidate data and enter into an online database, regional editors review and confirm all data, and data are then available to the public on the internet.

If observers live within a CBC circle, they may arrange in advance to count the birds at their feeders and submit those data to their compiler. While field observers count all day and record all birds seen and heard within the circle on count day, feeder watchers record the maximum number of each species tallied at one time. All individual CBC circles are conducted in the period from December 14 to January 5 (inclusive dates) each season, and each count is conducted in one calendar day. Many circles will schedule their count days on the same day each year. Observers count using many methods, including those listed here.

Anyone can participate, but those interested must make arrangements to count by contacting the circle compiler in advance of the count date. There is a $5.00 required fee per field participant per count. Feeder watchers do not need to pay the fee, and all observers 18 and under may count for free. These fees fund the program and help to cover the costs of staffing, producing the annual CBC summary issue of American Birds, and maintaining the CBC website and database.

More information about the Christmas Bird Count and how to get involved can be found on the CBC website at www.christmasbirdcount.org or send us an email at [email protected]

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Each circle Each circle is divided is divided into sectorsinto sectors

Slide #6 – Each circle is divided into sectors

Within each circle, the area is separated into “sectors” by the compiler, and these areas are assigned to a “sector leader” who ensures count coverage with their team of citizen scientists.

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Slide #7 – The Summary of the Christmas Bird Count is published in American Birds

The annual summary of the Christmas Bird Count, American Birds, is published each fall and contains the overall summaries of the U.S. and Canada, regional summaries for all counts in the western hemisphere, as well as feature articles on a range of topics unique to the CBC. Features include coverage of the history of some long-running CBC circles, shifts in ranges uncovered by the CBC data and the challenges and fun encountered by individuals participating on the Christmas Bird Count.

This publication is mailed to all paying CBC participants, and online copies of American Birds are available back to the 102nd summary edition, with online synopsis editions of the 98th to the 101st also available.

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Over 60,000 participants

20 countries

2215 circles

Over 61,300,000 birds reported

2,400 species

As of 2011 the Christmas Bird CountAs of 2011 the Christmas Bird Count……..

Western Gull © Larry Seligman

Slide #8 – Statistics on a recent Christmas Bird Count

Participation on the Christmas Bird Count has grown to over 60,000 participants, and is conducted in over 20 countries across the western hemisphere, and is also conducted in Antarctica, as of 2011.

The most recent Christmas Bird Count, completed in January of 2011, recorded 2215 completed circles.

In the 111th count, over 61 million individual birds were reported, which represents over 2400 species, one quarter of all bird species on earth.

In the 111th count, the circle reporting the highest number of species counted is Mindo-Tandayapa, Ecuador at 423 species. The U.S. Count with the highest number of species reported is Matagorda County-Mad Island Marsh, Texas with 236 species.

The Christmas Bird Count is the oldest and largest citizen science project in the world, it covers more miles than any other count and it counts more species than any other project.

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The Citizen ScientistsThe Citizen Scientists

Concord, Massachusetts CBC © Hilary Wood

Mindo, Ecuador ©

Greg Butcher

Slide #9 The Citizen ScientistsA critical part of the Christmas Bird Count are the citizen scientists that enjoy going out in the field to count birds. Many people go out on more than one count each year and most who participate, do so for years, often decades on the same counts. People count in a variety of habitats, close to home, or travel to other counts within their state, or to other countries, such as Colombia as shown in one of these images. Feeder watchers can count birds at their feeders, if their location is within an existing CBC circle.

All bird observations are turned in to the circle compiler after the end of the day, “tally rallies”, or compilation gathering, provide an opportunity for the counters to recount their day and share their sightings. One count in Mindo, Ecuador, hosts a pep rally the night before the count, with entertainment, t-shirts, calendars and an enjoyable time for all participants!

Circle compilers are responsible for coordinating all of the volunteers for the day, reviewing and verifying all reports within their area, and entering data into the database.

Once all data has been reported into the database, a regional editor reviews all of the data and confirms that all data can be accepted for the year. Some reports may be questioned by the regional editors who corresponds directly with compilers about any rare bird reports. The regional editors are also volunteers who spend many hours reviewing data and writing up their annual summaries to be included in American Birds.

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Christmas Bird Count PartnersChristmas Bird Count Partners

Slide #10 – Christmas Bird Count Partners

The Christmas Bird Count is conducted through several western hemispheric partnerships including:

The North American Breeding Bird Survey

Bird Studies Canada

Gulf Coast Bird Observatory

Instituto Humboldt, Colombia

Sociedad Caldense de Ornitologia

The National Network BirdObservers- RNOA

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First among citizen science projects First among citizen science projects -- the the Christmas Bird CountChristmas Bird Count

Prothonotary Warbler© Dominic Sherony

Monarch Butterflies during migration U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Iris Versicolor© Evelyn Simak, CC-SA-2

Other citizen science projects include:

•eBird•The Great Backyard Bird Count•BioBlitz•The National Phenology Network•North American Butterfly Count•Water Quality Monitoring

Slide #11 – First Among Citizen Science projects – the Christmas Bird CountThe Christmas Bird Count was the first of what are now known as “Citizen Science” projects, where volunteers go out and do surveys of items in nature to contribute to the body of scientific knowledge. The Christmas Bird Count is considered the “gold standard” to which all other such citizen science projects are compared.

Other citizen science projects include:1. eBird (a project of National Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology)2. The annual Breeding Bird Survey (U.S. Geological Survey)3. The Great Backyard Bird Count (a collaborative project of Cornell Lab or Ornithology, National Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada)4. BioBlitz: An example of this is a project of Audubon Wyoming which was a two-day long event to assess the numbers of native birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and plants in the Shirley Basin area. Scores of volunteers from across Wyoming came to participate, and learned a lot about native Wyoming wildlife in the process! The information these volunteers collected will be used to create accurate conservation management plans to protect these threatened species into the future. 5. The National Phenology Network: citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students who monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States. Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds and volunteers record obsevations about the timing of these things.6. The annual North American Butterfly count each summer.7. Water Quality Monitoring programs.

And there are many more citizen science projects that encompass gathering data on the sun, stars, other living creatures, the weather and more.

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What have we learned about What have we learned about how birds are doing from how birds are doing from the Christmas Bird Count?the Christmas Bird Count?

Slide #12 – What have we learned from the Christmas Bird Count?

Beyond the experience of counting birds and being with other citizen scientists who also enjoy birding, the value of the Christmas Bird Count lies in what the data tells us about how the birds are doing.

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BewickBewick’’s Wrens Wren

© Cindy Chow

Slide #13 – The Bewick’s Wren

One such story was that of the Bewicks Wren. The Bewick's Wren is a common and familiar bird of brushy habitats throughout much of the western United States. East of the Mississippi River, however, this species is very rare -- in fact few modern-day birders have ever seen one there. Historical records indicate that the Bewick's Wren was a fairly common inhabitant of eastern states as well, and in particular, a distinctive subspecies was resident in the Appalachian Mountains. The graph in this slide shows that this wren was seen fairly regularly on eastern CBCs from at least 1949 through the mid-1970s, with 30 or more individuals found each year at roughly 20 different sites. Beginning in 1977, the eastern population began to crash, and it essentially has never recovered. Even in places like Nashville, Tennessee, where 5-to-10 Bewick's were found in early years, this number dropped during the same period, and none could be found there after 1984. Reasons for this precipitous decline are not well understood -- the species was well adapted to human-disturbed habitats and was even famous for nesting in old cars, junkyards, and out-buildings. Some authors believe that competition from the equally adaptive and more aggressive House Wren was a major factor.

[text from Ken Rosenberg, 1999]

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© Linda Huffman

American CrowAmerican Crow

Slide #14 – American Crow and West Nile virus

Highly intelligent, extremely social, sometimes maligned, and frequently misunderstood, the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is also one of the most common and widespread birds of North America. This graph shows that American Crow was hard hit by the West Nile virus during 1999-2003 which the Christmas Bird Count data documented quite clearly, shown in this graph.

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Rusty BlackbirdRusty Blackbird

© Ashok Khosla

Slide #15 – Rusty Blackbird

Christmas Bird Count data shows us that the Rusty Blackbird is in trouble. Little known and not well studied, the species was only recently discovered to be sharply declining. This oddball among blackbirds desperately needs our immediate conservation attention. Rusty Blackbird populations were estimated at 2 million in 2004 by Partners in Flight. However, the species is decreasing by almost 10% per year. To put this decrease in perspective, Rusty Blackbird populations may have been over 13 million in 1965, an apparent loss of more than 11 million birds. The species is in the yellow category on the Audubon WatchList, a list of species with conservation concern. Forty years of decline documented by the Christmas Bird Count and Breeding Bird Survey vividly illustrates the plight of the Rusty Blackbird.

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HarrisHarris’’s Sparrows Sparrow

© Nic Allen

Slide #16 – Harris’s Sparrow

The Harris’s Sparrow is a species that is not covered by the Breeding Bird Survey so what we have learned from the Christmas Bird count is important. The CBC data alerted us to the decline of this species.

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© Wilber Suiter

Bald Eagle Bald Eagle –– an indicator of an indicator of environmental healthenvironmental health

Slide #17 – Bald Eagle

The increase in Bald Eagles as a result of the banning of DDT is shown through analysis of CBC data. This is also an example of using an indicator. The concept of wild bird indicators has been applied widely throughout the world, in Audubon’s State of the Birds reports and has been accepted as an important measure of environmental health.

Bird are good indicators of environmental health because:

•Abundant and widespread

•Integral part of our ecosystems

•Sensitive to environmental change and degradation

•Respond quickly to conservation

•Health of habitats equals economic wellbeing

•They are indicators of human quality of life

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Changes in Changes in the Winter the Winter Ranges of Ranges of BirdsBirds

Slide #18 – Changes in the Winter Ranges of Birds shown by analysis of 40 years of Christmas Bird Count data

Analysis of four decades of Christmas Bird Count observations reveal that birds seen in North America during the first weeks of winter have moved dramatically northward—toward colder latitudes—over the past four decades. Significant northward movement occurred among 58% of the observed species—177 of 305. More than 60 moved in excess of 100 miles north, while the average distance moved by all studied species—including those that did not reflect the trend—was 35 miles northward.

There was also movement inland, from warmer coastal states into areas not long accustomed to winter temperatures suitable for their new arrivals.

The analysis found these trends among nearly every type of species; their sheer numbers and variety pointing to a powerful common force contributing to the movements.

This text taken from: Birds and Climate Change, Ecological Disruption in Motion - A Briefing for Policymakers and Concerned Citizens

on Audubon’s Analyses of North American Bird Movements in the Face of Global Warming, National Audubon Society, 2009

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Why should we care about the status of Why should we care about the status of birds? birds?

• People love birds• Birds are valuable• Birds are indicators• We know a lot about birds• Volunteers count birds• In many cases, we can reverse bird population

declines

Slide #19 – Why do we care about the status of Birds?

Why do we care about how birds are doing? Because :

People love birds

Birds are valuable

Birds are indicators

We know a lot about birds

Volunteers count birds

In many cases, we can reverse bird population declines

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The Conservation Value of the Christmas Bird Count is evident inThe Conservation Value of the Christmas Bird Count is evident in the the many projects resulting from use of these datamany projects resulting from use of these data

Slide #20 - The Conservation Value of the Christmas Bird Count

The conservation value of the Christmas Bird Count is evident in the many analysis projects and reports, including over 200 peer-reviewed papers, that have resulted from these data.

WatchList 2007, an analysis from Audubon and American Bird Conservancy, used the latest available research from the bird conservation community along with citizen science data from the Christmas Bird Count and the annual Breeding Bird Survey to identify 176 species in the continental U.S. and 38 in Hawaii that are in need of immediate conservation help.

Audubon’s analysis of the CBC data include it’s report on Common Birds in Decline released April 2008, and it’s report on Birds & Climate Change, released Feb 2009.

The Federal State of the Birds report, released in March of 2009 included 40 years of CBC data as the basis for the report. CBC data has been used in projects that tell us about the population effects of West Nile virus, changes in distribution of boreal songbirds, avian winter abundance patterns in state references (over 150 since 1970), for field guides and distribution atlases (the data are used for early-winter range maps), and in environmental impact statements (CBC provides baseline data), just to name a few.

Many entities have used and continue to use CBC data for analysis including the US Geological Survey, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, many state departments of natural resources, the Canadian Wildlife Service, the United States Air Force, universities in the U.S. and Canada and many nonprofit organizations.

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The Christmas Bird Count also shows the The Christmas Bird Count also shows the value of citizen sciencevalue of citizen science

In the 106th Christmas Bird Count there was a total of 292,000 hours spent counting birds by all participants.

At $16.54 per hour + 12% fringe = $5,405,907or this is equal to 146 full time employees

If you add the cost of miles traveled during the count:575,000 miles * IRS rates = $209.857

This results in a $5,615,764 value to the work of bird conservation by citizen scientists in that one year! (Niven, 2006)

Slide #21 – The Value of Citizen Science

Audubon’s data analyst looked at Christmas Bird Count data from the 106th count, conducted from December of 2005 to January of 2006, and determined that the value of all of the citizen science effort of all of the CBC participants equaled over $5 million in that year. This was calculated using standard salary and fringe information for a field biologist at that time, and IRS mileage reimbursement rates.

This shows the value of the Christmas Bird Count beyond just the use of data. Citizen Scientists perform a great service to provide something of such value to the general body of science and to society.

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AudubonAudubon’’s s future projects future projects with Christmas with Christmas Bird Count dataBird Count data

Audubon California’s Mapping Avian Responses to Climate Change in California, 2009)

CBC circles along the Gulf Coast

Slide #22 – Audubon’s Future projects involving the Christmas Bird Count Data

1. Because the Christmas Bird Count database now contains many years of data, it is a project that is well positioned to track the long term effects of the BP Oil Spill on birds in the Gulf.

2. Audubon California used Christmas Bird Count data to develop a predictive GIS-based model that identifies specific habitat areas and species at risk from climate change. This innovative project also describes how different strategies for mitigating climate change will influence the magnitude of future bird loss. National Audubon is now expanding this groundbreaking approach to encompass 600 bird species across North America, and to create a framework for innovative conservation planning. (From: Audubon California’s Mapping Avian Responses to Climate Change in California, 2009)

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Christmas Bird Count Christmas Bird Count history and data will history and data will inform Auduboninform Audubon’’s s future bird future bird conservation work.conservation work.

Slide #23 – Audubon’s future initiatives with Christmas Bird Count data

Because of the long time span of data the CBC provides, it is valuable to inform bird conservation strategies. Audubon is engaged in making a difference for birds and in focusing on positive conservation outcomes within the rich veins of biodiversity below the major flyways where birds exist. As Audubon engages in flyway scale conservation efforts, the CBC is a ready and waiting database that tells us what the birds are doing during the non-breeding season and that allows us to look at what birds are doing in the flyways across the North American continent and western hemisphere.

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Barred Owl by Kenneth Cantley

[email protected]

We wish you Good Birding!We wish you Good Birding!

Slide #24 – End of program

In you have any questions about the program, or are interested in joining the CBC, visit the website address on the slide, or send an email to [email protected]

Documents

Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count - National Audubon SocietyNational Audubon Society Slide #3 – Frank Chapman, and a proposal to count birds In 1899, Frank Chapman, bird curator at