By: Sally Siko- Admin Birdwatching NC
Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season here! Here are a a few thoughts from the eBird website.
“This is a great time to join others to cooperate in an effort across the World to take a snapshot of bird occurrence around the holidays. For 3 weeks each year ( December 14th through January 5th) birders head out to conduct the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. “
Haven’t signed up yet? What are you waiting for! You can join the effort here https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count
“These counts are a cooperative effort to get the most accurate count of birds in a single 15-mile diameter circle based on the reporting of multiple parties of observers within each group. The goal is to arrive at an accurate count total which can be compared to totals for the past 118 years. This data can be used to help understand fluctuations in local and national bird populations.”
If your a eBird user, and plan on logging your circle sightings through the app, here are some helpful resources from eBird to help make sure your birds are counted within your circle properly.
If you’re not an eBird user you can sign up at the link below… https://ebird.org/home
eBirding on the CBC
While doing your CBC, eBird Mobile makes it easy to keep your tallies through the day. Here are our tips for making your CBC eBirding as helpful as possible.
- Only submit lists that include birds observed by your CBC group: do not group lists from other birding parties together
- Keep multiple lists throughout the day: ideally one for each stop, or perhaps one for each road.
- Include only one-way distance in your traveling counts: both CBC and eBird measure distance as one-way distance
Here are some more useful links for eBird best practices and CBC resources:
Happy birding!
-Sally
