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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

CITIZEN SCIENCE

Count the birds!

Find a Christmas Bird Count near you

Posted

REGIONAL—Looking for a great way to work off a few of those extra holiday pounds, while making a contribution to science? Then make plans to take part in a Christmas Bird Count near you. Here in the North Country, you’ve got plenty to choose from.

Ely’s count is first up, set for Friday, Dec. 23, so you’ll want to contact Bill Tefft (218-235-8078) right away if you’d like to take part in this typically well-attended count. If you need more notice, there are other counts coming up over the next ten days, including counts in Cook, Isabella, Virginia, and Eagles Nest Township. See contact information at in box below.

Each of the Christmas counts is held within a 15-mile wide count circle, centered on a specific point. CBC participants count all the birds they see on that day within the count circle. Some birders spend the day skiing or snowshoeing through the woods. Others drive the backroads, and still others count the birds at their feeders from the comfort of their living room.

While the count is open to all and is free of charge, all participants will want to contact the count compiler ahead of time so they know where you plan to count, or can assign you a count area.

The Christmas Bird Counts were established by the National Audubon Society in 1900, as an alternative to New Year’s Day bird shoots, which used to be a tradition in much of the U.S. The annual bird count is a longstanding tradition that annually gets tens of thousands of birders out in the woods and fields every year between mid-December and early January.

It’s a fun way to spend a day, but it’s also important scientific work that has helped professional researchers document changes in bird populations over the decades. And that data becomes more valuable with time and consistency. That’s something that Steve Wilson, who has served as count compiler for the Isabella count since its founding 36 years ago, has strived for. “It’s valuable to have a systematic count and the same compiler, so the methodology doesn’t change,” he said.

Wilson, who lives in Tower, said the information gathered by the counts has helped researchers identify population trends, such as the distinct northward movement of many species in recent years, apparently a response to climate change.

Wilson said he’ll be looking for another northward movement this year during the Isabella count. “I do expect to see large flocks of liberal elites heading north,” he quipped, tongue firmly in cheek. “That would be a first for the count.”