Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Audubon frees Christmas Bird Count
The National Audubon Society has made two changes to its popular Christmas Bird Count.
The 113th annual citizen science project will be held from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 in Arkansas and across the Western Hemisphere.
Audubon will no longer charge a $5 fee to birders who wish to join the effort to record how many birds they observe in a defined area.
The magazine American Birds will no longer be printed on paper and mailed to participants. Instead, the magazine, which reports results of the annual count, will be online.
The Christmas count is not a comprehensive bird census: It does not try to count every bird everywhere. Instead, year after year, it takes a snapshot of bird populations inside 15mile diameter tracts called “circles.”
There are more than 20 such circles in Arkansas. Official groups of counters go into those areas together and, following a uniform method, record how many individuals of each species of bird they see — or hear.
The list of birds observed inside these circles can then be compared to data from earlier years. Over time, the data track habitat and habit changes of interest to scientists who study wildlife and climate.
In a recent post to the University of Arkansas-hosted Birds of Arkansas discussion list, Arkansas’ overall Christmas Bird Count compiler, Leif Anderson, gave dates for circle counts scheduled so far.
Anderson, who works for the U.S. Forest Service at Hector, wrote that anyone is welcome to participate in a circle count and can do so by contacting the organizer for each circle. “Any birding skill level is fine. Any length of time is welcome. Just contact a compiler for details and join in the fun,” Anderson wrote.
He also urged birders to consider joining more than one circle, “especially the counts that involve a drive to get to or traditionally have less than 10 volunteers.”
People who live within the boundaries of a count circle are welcome to stay at home and report the birds that visit their feeders, after contacting the compiler in their area. Although everyone can participate, there is a specific format the counter must follow.
Here are the circle dates and leaders as of Nov. 18. Leaders’ contact information will be posted on the Arkansas Audubon Society’s website, arbirds.org. Anderson can answer general questions about the count at (479) 284-3150, Extension 3151.
(ActiveStyle could not confirm two e-mail addresses by press time, and so only those compilers’ names appear here.)
Dec. 14, Mountain Home, Alice Snyder, alice. m.snyder@gmail.com Dec. 15:
Arkadelphia, Evelyn and Glenn Good
Buffalo National River, east near Buffalo Point on Arkansas 65, Roy Stovall
Fort Smith, Bill Beall, billtoka@mynewroads.com
Little Rock, Dan Scheiman and the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas, birddan@comcast.net
Magnolia and Lake Columbia, Darrell and Debbie Chatelain, darrell1951@suddenlink.net
Dec. 16, Fayetteville, NorthWest Arkansas-Audubon Society, Joe Neal and Mike Mlodinow, joeneal@uark.edu and mamlod@hotmail.com
Dec. 17, Hot Springs Village, Hot Springs Village Audubon and Lynn Sackett, tlsackett@sbcglobal.net
Dec. 18, Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, Leif Anderson, leanderson@fs.fed.us Dec. 19:
Bayou DeView near Brinkley, Steve Osborne, jsteveosborne@gmail.com
Crooked Creek near Harrison, Sally Jo Gibson, sjogibson@cox.net
Dec. 20, Mississippi River State Park, Tara Gillanders, tara.gillanders@arkansas.gov
Dec. 21, Village Creek State Park, Adam Leslie, adam.leslie@arkansas.gov
Dec. 28, Pine Bluff, Three Rivers Audubon Society and Rob Doster, calcarius@comcast.net. Dec. 29:
Lonoke, Scheiman, birddan@comcast.net
Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, Dick Preston, dickpreston@bigriver.net
Jan. 2, Conway, Allan Mueller, akcmueller@gmail.com
Dates have yet to be set for circles at Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Hot Springs National Park, Jonesboro, Lake Georgia Pacific/Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, the North Fork of Illinois Bayou, Texarkana and White River National Wildlife Refuge.
More information is usually available at the national site christmasbirdcount.org, but that site is managed from offices that were knocked offline by Hurricane Sandy; some links are not yet up to date.