Christmas Bird Count

Pale Male & Lola, both counted at the Christmas Count this morning
Photo by Lincoln Karim

Today was the day for the annual Central Park Christmas Bird Count. About 50 people gathered at the South Pump House to spend a few hours ranging through designated sections of the park and counting every single bird. [The Ramble team had 342 House Sparrows, 122 White-throated Sparrows, 65 House Finches, and 20 Northern Cardinals, among others]

The appointed hour for meeting was 8 a.m. I was part of the Ramble team. Bruce Yolton was on the team too, taking photos which I'm sure he'll post on his website soon. Check it out: http://www.urbanhawks.blogs.com.

The major disappointment of the morning: no owls were found by any of the seven teams, not a Long-eared Owl, not a saw-whet, not a Screech to be found There were ten different redtails seen, however, as well as a Cooper's Hawk, and a kestrel.

The most gratifying moment: our team found a Rusty Blackbird feeding near Bank Rock Bridge. It was the only uncommon bird found at the Count.

The weather was balmy and beautiful, the best I can remember of any of the 15 or so Christmas Counts I've attended. Most of the birdwatching community was there -- a notable event.


Below, from the NYC Audubon website, is a brief description and history of the Christmas Bird Count.

Christmas Bird Count

Volunteers have been counting birds on the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for 106 years, and their efforts represent a valuable resource for learning about bird behavior, movements and ultimately conservation. Much has happened in the last 100 plus years, and the CBC is a great way to discover those changes. Again this winter, groups of citizen scientists, led by a compiler, will head out and count birds in 15-mile radius circles on one day between December 16 and January 7. The collected data will be added to an ever-growing database. This resource provides valuable information to research scientists who study early winter bird populations across North America. Click here for an extensive bibliography.

The first CBC was led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman of the New York Audubon Society. On December 25, 1900, 27 Audubon conservationists in 25 localities posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas tradition of teams competing to shoot the most birds and small mammals. Chapman and his group instead identified, counted, and recorded all the birds they saw, founding the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort.