CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Audubon Society’s 121st annual Christmas Bird Count will take place between Monday, Dec. 14, and Tuesday, Jan. 5. In spite of precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, birders of various skill levels can still participate on the designated day for their area.
Volunteer birdwatchers will canvass a location or multiple locations within a 15-mile circle, then report the findings to a lone, very dedicated “compiler.”
The Cleveland Circle will conduct its census on Saturday, Dec. 19. The Lakewood Circle’s count takes place Sunday, Dec. 27. A number of other Northeast Ohio circles also will be active this year.
Birders interested in participating should locate a circle near their home, using the Audubon Society’s interactive map, then contact the compiler or the organization sponsoring the circle to avoid duplicating efforts by other birders.
The Christmas Bird Count is a free event.
This red-breasted nuthatch recently made a welcome visit to a backyard feeder in Cleveland Heights. (Photo Courtesy of Andy Jones)
Typically, first-year participants would tag along with a group of Christmas Bird Count veterans. But due to the pandemic, new volunteers in 2020 will likely find themselves walking or driving through neighborhoods, visiting area cemeteries or checking the local schoolyard. Such excursions can be done solo or with members of the same household.
Persons more affected by winter’s chilly wrath, including the elderly and those with health issues, can simply record various bird species visiting their backyard feeders.
“Surprisingly, neighborhoods can harbor a large number of species,” notes Nancy Howell, compiler for the Lakewood Circle, which is sponsored by the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society.
Fortunately for birders of all types, 2020 looks to be a promising year for winter birds. Forests of spruce in Quebec have fallen prey to a destructive budworm, sending various finch species south. Evening grosbeaks, common redpolls and purple finches have been sighted in Ohio in recent weeks.
Recent years have also produced surprises, according to Andy Jones, curator of ornithology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and compiler for the Cleveland Circle, which includes Lake View Cemetery, the North Chagrin Reservation, the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve and Shaker Lakes.
In 2019, Jones and his birders -- many of whom are members of the Kirtland Bird Club, which sponsors the circle -- reported unusual species such as Lincoln’s sparrow, swamp sparrow, harlequin duck, pine siskin, saw-whet owl and red-breasted nuthatch. Although the total number of individual birds was low, the species count was the highest in 41 years.
The inspiration for the Christmas Bird Count was an ignoble holiday tradition known as the “side hunt.” Groups of hunters would choose teams, then blast away at every living thing in a given area. The winning “side” in the gruesome event was determined by numbers killed.
Progressive-era American conservation and the dedicated efforts of future members of the Audubon Society turned the bloody spectacle into today’s scientific, though citizen-driven, bird census.
Jones, who holds a doctorate from the University of Minnesota, reveals that the annual event offers “a really incredible portrait of where birds are in a given year and how that changes year to year.”
Increases and decreases in populations, migratory changes and other trends emerge from the final compilation, which includes numbers from North, Central and South America.
The circles are typically broken into smaller territories. Each year, Jones and a group of volunteers spend the morning circling the perimeter of Squire Valleevue farm, then scan an area of the Chagrin River for species in the afternoon.
Other small groups visit sites along the Lake Erie shore, near the airport and at various other parks and green spaces.
Jones plans to work with a limited group of trusted participants on his 2020 outdoor excursion, and he is requiring all involved to confirm that they will adhere to COVID-19 protocols.
Howell echoes Jones’ safety-first approach: “We are going to be really, really careful with COVID precautions.”
A Christmas Bird Count in Tennessee helped inform Jones’ decision to become an ornithologist. Jones, then a teenager, was able to identify species he had not previously seen, with a bit of assistance from older birders.
Volunteers need not be future ornithologists. Most simply enjoy interacting with nature and like-minded individuals via birdwatching. The groups sometimes compete to see who can record the most different species, though wagering is generally kept to a healthy minimum.
“It’s just a fun way to spend a day in the field,” remarks Jones.