It’s the 125th anniversary of the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
Locally, the count is sponsored by the Mississippi Hills Master Naturalist chapter. Volunteers will begin at Mark Twain Lake’s Frank Russell Recreation Area starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. More information is available from George Wisdom at [email protected].
Teams are divided up that morning to cover an assigned area in the circle. Much of the bird observations and counting happens from a car. There will be an outside group hiking one of the trails.
Volunteers are asked to bring binoculars and dress for the weather. New volunteers will be matched with more experienced Christmas Bird Count participants.
The Christmas Bird Count started as a way of promoting conservation by counting, rather than hunting, birds on Christmas Day of 1900. Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt.” They would choose sides and go afield with their guns — whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.
Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition — a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.
So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Chapman and the enthusiasm of 27 dedicated birders, 25 Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations ranged from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America. Those original 27 Christmas Bird Counters tallied around 90 species on all the counts combined.
From Dec. 14 through Jan. 5 each year, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain and take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action.