The 125th Annual Christmas Bird Count

It’s hard to believe, with our commercialized, extended celebration, that Christmas was banned by the Puritans and did not become a federally recognized American holiday until 1870. By the turn of the 20th century, the traditions we now follow at Christmas were entrenched in our culture. Fortunately, one of those traditions does not survive today. It was known as the Christmas “side hunt,” where family, friends, and neighbors (mostly men) would gather early on Christmas morning and choose “sides” to go out and shoot as many birds and animals they could find. The side with the biggest bounty won the honor of mass destruction of wildlife of all kinds for the day!

It was also around this time that American conservation efforts were beginning in America. Many women were teaching nature study, but men were slow to recognize the importance of this approach because of its feminine underpinnings. Women also began the movement against the use of birds and their feathers in millinery.

Red-tailed hawk over Cloverdale Farm, East Haddam, CT. With special permission for access, this site has produced many unusual and sought-after species. Image Credit: Chris Howe.

But it was a man named Frank Chapman who addressed the slaughter of the Christmas “side hunt.” Chapman (1864–1957) was curator of birds at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and an early officer in the fledgling Audubon Society. He created new displays of birds in their natural habitats in lifelike dioramas. He also started and edited the magazine Bird-Lore (which later became Audubon Magazine). To many, he was the “Dean of American Ornithologists.”

His greatest achievement, and the one for which he has been known for 125 years, is as the father of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). In the 1900 issue of Bird-Lore, he proposed an idea to counter the massive, wasteful slaughter of birds. Rather than kill them, he suggested, count them. The magazine reached across the country, and by Christmas that year, folks took up this new concept and went out and counted birds on December 25, 1900. Twenty-seven bird lovers participated that first year, counting birds at twenty-five separate locations across North America, including Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Grove, California. They counted ninety species, creating the first international census of birds.

Like the sporting magazines of the day that published the results of the side hunt, Chapman listed the numbers and participants of the Christmas Bird Count in Bird-Lore. The tradition continued when the magazine became Audubon Magazine and does so today online.

Vesper sparrow. Image Credit: Roy Dellinger

Over the years National Audubon established a count period. It now runs from December 14 to January 5, which allows birders to participate in more than one count. A territory for counting was also defined as a fifteen-mile diameter circle with a specific center point. There are about 2,600 specified count circles across the US, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands, across nearly twenty countries, with around 120 spread throughout New England. Seventy-nine thousand people participated in the CBC in 2022. They observed 40,298,635 birds of 2,244 different species.

While the compilation and reporting of data have changed over the years, the method of what some call the annual “frostbite fellowship” has remained the same. Bird lovers go out no matter the weather and count birds all day.

Amidst the pandemic it was great to get out with old friends, says Sharon Dellinger (front), shown here with Steve Broker (in orange hat), Elena Coffey, and Roy Dellinger, Upper Moodus Reservoir Boat Launch, East Haddam, CT, December 2020. Image Credit: Sharon Dellinger

Birders travel by car, foot, golf cart, and boat, or just stay home and count the birds in their yard. Some seek out birds active at night in the dark. Most count circles rely on teams to cover the whole area of the circle. The teams often come together at the end of the day to swap stories, learn the numbers, and the “bird of the day” for their circle. If something particularly rare or out of character for the area is seen, a special form must be used to document the sighting. It’s best to get a photo or have lots of witnesses. National Audubon is very particular about verification, as such a sighting may be significant in regard to species movement across its range.

The importance of the Annual Christmas Bird Count cannot be overstated. For 124 years, data have been collected about birds, their numbers and species, the weather—including temperature range through the day, amount of ice and snow—and miles driven, walked, and paddled. These data, collected by ordinary people, have supported research that has led to the understanding of bird populations and their behavior. Information from the CBC has been used in some 300 articles related to ecology, biogeography, distribution, and population dynamics of birds.

Bundled up with binoculars at the ready, (L to R) Elena Coffey, Kathy Golec, and Doreen Jezek make a quick stop at the historic Gelston Farm, East Haddam, CT. Image Credit: Sharon Dellinger

This year, the Mattabeseck Audubon Society, the chapter of National Audubon at the big bend of the Connecticut River in Middletown, Connecticut, marks the 50th anniversary of the Salmon River Christmas Bird Count which centers on the covered bridge in East Hampton. In those fifty years, the group has witnessed many changes in birds seen on count day. From 1974 to 1985, no bald eagles were observed. On the last count, there were seventeen, and they are now seen as far inland as Colchester center. Another bird not counted until 1987 is the wild turkey. These data are indications of conservation success stories. The sighting of black vultures and common ravens show an expansion of their territories; the former moving north and the latter south. In 2022 the “bird of the day” was a ruby-throated hummingbird, the first one for this count circle.

The data collected by CBC participants over the past century and a quarter have become one of only two large pools of information informing ornithologists and conservation biologists about how the birds of the Americas are faring over time. CBC data was used in the recent study that determined that bird populations have declined by a billion birds since 1970. Over 25 percent of our birds are gone.

Steve Broker making a quick lunch before heading back out into the field. The Salmon River Christmas Bird Count begins at 12:01 a.m. the Sunday before Christmas and ends at midnight. Many teams “eat on the fly” to make the best use of their limited time. Image Credit: Sharon Dellinger

Information from the CBC contributed to Audubon’s study of climate change and its effect on birds and was also used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their climate change report. The US Fish and Wildlife Service also sourced the CBC for its report on the state of birds in North America.

Over the years, all this time and energy counting birds has led to projects and legislation that have protected birds, but more needs to be done to continue the effort to keep birds in our lives. December 14, 2024, marks the beginning of the 125th Christmas Bird Count. Consider adding the CBC to your Christmas traditions and be a part of probably the most important citizen science event on Earth. For more information visit audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count.

Alison C. Guinness is a resident of East Haddam where she researches the local earthquake phenomenon called the Moodus Noises. She also studies Portland brownstone and other quarrying in the Connecticut River valley. She curated an exhibit at the Connecticut River Museum on brownstone and searches for important uses of sandstone around the world.