Birders brave the winter weather to count and log bird populations across species for the Annual Christmas Bird Count.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The 115th Annual Christmas Bird Count goes through Monday, Jan. 5 and some surprising results are already starting to show up in reports. The results have been gathered from thousands of volunteer bird watchers and enthusiasts who have braved the winter temperatures to aid along in conservation efforts by putting their bird watching skills to work. Volunteers look for bird species and take note. Then, the National Audubon Society and other organizations use the information they have gathered to gauge the health of bird populations across species.
There were some delightful finds in Chicago, which saw some species of birds above their usual counts for the area,reported CBS Local News, Jan. 2. There were 900 Sandhill crane sightings (up from a previous high of six) and three bald eagles were sighted in the area, as well. The numbers in both of these sightings were unusual, said Chicago area organizer Joel Greenberg, and “extraordinary,” which is good news in terms of conservation efforts. Savannah Now reported that though the red-cockaded woodpecker (which is endangered) and the hairy woodpecker are no longer found in Savannah, other bird species populations have also increased, like those of the Eurasian collared dove.
More than 2300 individual counts have been taking place all across North and South America since Dec. 14. This year, more than 60,000 people participated in the bird count and 9,505,639 have been logged so far according toAudubon’s webpage. Not all of the data has been logged yet but will be soon. You can check in at the link above to keep tabs. The site also has many publications listed that talk about bird conservation and how to get involved next year.
*originally published on the now defunct Examiner.com
No comments:
Post a Comment