Valley birders take part in 113th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Valley wild bird enthusiasts will take part in the Matanuska Valley Audubon Christmas Bird Count Dec. 16. The event is sponsored locally by the Mat- Su Birders wild bird club.

This year marks the 113th anniversary of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. In 1900, 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by ornithologist Frank Chapman, changed the course of history. On Christmas Day 1900, the group initiated an alternative to the traditional holiday ‘side hunt,’ in which teams (sides) competed to see who could shoot the most birds. Instead of shooting birds, the group counted the birds they saw and founded what is now the oldest citizen science wildlife survey in the world.

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count will undergo several significant changes beginning this year as Audubon builds on the program’s success to entice birdwatchers to lend their eyes and ears year round. According to Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold, “We’re dropping fees, adding languages, going digital, and taking citizen science year-round. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count harnesses volunteer power to gather knowledge that shapes conservation policy at enormous scales in this country. I couldn’t be prouder of the 60,000-plus volunteers who contribute each year: This is the largest, longest-running animal census on the planet, and we’re all proud to be a part of the CBC. And with the elimination of fees, we’re looking forward to even more people having a role in this adventure.”

“This is not just about counting birds,” says Gary Langham, Audubon’s chief scientist. “Data from the Audubon Christmas Bird Count are at the heart of hundreds peer- reviewed scientific studies and inform decisions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior, and the EPA. Because birds are early indicators of environmental threats to habitats we share, this is a vital survey of North America and, increasingly, the Western Hemisphere.”

Last year’s CBC shattered records. A total of 2,248 counts and 63,223 people tallied over 60 million birds. Counts took place in all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, plus 99 count circles in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands.

From Dec. 14, 2012, to Jan. 5, 2013, tens of thousands of volunteers will add a new layer of information to data that has shaped conservation and Congressional decisions. Each count group has a designated circle 15 miles in diameter - about 177 square miles - where they try to cover as much ground as possible within a 24-hour calendar day.

This will be the 33rd consecutive year that Christmas Bird Counts have been held in the Mat-Su Valley. The Matanuska Valley Count Circle is centered at Four Corners on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Field teams count every bird that they see in a seven and one half mile radius from Four Corners and birders who live within the Count Circle will

count birds at their home bird feeders. Last year’s Valley count totaled 3,611 birds of 24 species.

The Matanuska Valley Christmas Bird Count is open to birders of all skill levels. For more information about the Matanuska Valley Audubon Christmas Bird Count, visit the Mat-Su Birders’ website at matsubirders.org or contact Bob Winckler at msbirder@mtaonline.net or 376-8594.

For more information, about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count project, visit birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count.