SHELBY — It’s time again for Oak Orchard to hold its Swamp Christmas Bird Count.
The count, which began in December 1968 will take place this year on Monday. The National Audubon Society has been sponsoring counts for 120 years and the Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Inc. provide support for this local count.
Count compiler and Medina resident Celeste Morien said she would like the public to be alert for counters with spotting scopes and binoculars who will be out and about Monday on local roads, searching for birds in fields and at bird feeders.
The Oak Orchard Swamp count is centered at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge on the Orleans and Genesee County line at Route 63. Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile diameter circle, which includes more than the refuge and state wildlife areas.
The volunteers will count “every bird they see or hear all day,” Morien said. “It’s not just a species tally — all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day.”
Filling bird feeders now and keeping them stocked ahead of the count helps fulfill the count objective of counting all wild birds seen and heard within the circle.
If your home is within the circle and you are at home on count day, you can report the birds that visit your feeder. Anyone can participate, but arrangements must be made with the compiler. To do so, contact Morien at celeste.morien@gmail.com.
According to the Audubon website, “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 then-nascent 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.
The first year, 25 counts took place at locations that ranged from Toronto, Ontario, to Pacific Grove, Calif., with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America.
These days, 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 census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action. The data collected by observers allow Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys, the “CBC” provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed and informs strategies to protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people as well.
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December 25, 2020 at 01:42PM
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