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December 13, 2020
The Christmas Bird Count is North America’s longest-running Community Science project. Counts happen in over 2000 localities throughout the Western Hemisphere.
The count is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada (where Audubon partners with Birds Canada), and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds.
History of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count began at the turn of the century. It was born out of an earlier tradition, the Christmas ‘Side Hunt’, in which hunters took sides and competed to see who could shoot the most birds and mammals. Ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds rather than hunt them. The first count was held on Christmas Day 1900, when 27 birders, participating in 25 counts, tallied around 90 species.
The Power of Community Science
Today, nearly 80,000 volunteers participate in Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) annually, covering thousands of count circles across the Western Hemisphere. The counts are held over a three week period from December 14 through January 5. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation actions.
The Squamish Count
Nature Squamish sponsors the CBC for the Squamish area. Hardy Squamish counters brave snow, wind, and rain and generally record around 70 species. CBC data (count code = BCSQ).
The count date is usually announced by December 1st and participants sign-up in advance. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to take part. Accessible routes are available, including an option to conduct a Backyard Bird Count from home.
More about volunteering for the Squamish CBC
More about Nature Squamish Bird Counts
More about the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.