By Don Lyman
The Boston Globe, January 4, 2019

Above: Vin Zollo (left) and Nate Marchessault were birding at Nauset Marsh in Eastham last month during the Cape Cod Christmas Bird Count.JIM SWEENEY
While most of us were shopping for gifts and celebrating the holidays over the past few weeks, a number of dedicated citizen scientists in Massachusetts and elsewhere were participating in another type of annual rite: the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. Each year from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5, thousands of bird enthusiasts across the United States, and other places from Canada to South America, volunteer their time identifying and counting birds. “This is the 119th Christmas Bird Count,” said Wayne Petersen, director of the Important Bird Areas program for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. “For birders of all levels, it’s a rite of passage at this time of year.”
Mass Audubon is a separate organization from National Audubon, Petersen said, although they collaborate on endeavors such as the CBC. The Christmas Bird Count was started in 1900 by Frank Chapman, an officer in the National Audubon Society, according to Petersen. At that time, people engaged in a holiday tradition called the “Christmas Side Hunt,” in which teams of people competed to see who could kill the most birds and other small animals. Birds also were killed for feathers to adorn hats and clothing.
“Chapman was watching people in Central Park in New York City, looking at the plumes in people’s hats,” said Petersen. “Chapman thought why not count birds, rather than kill them? So, he organized groups of people and started counting birds instead. This eventually morphed into the formal Christmas Bird Count.” For the count, the number of bird species and the number of individual birds of each species sighted are counted within circles with a 15-mile diameter. The person in charge is called the compiler. The compiler divides up the circle and assigns teams of observers to each section. Observers spend one day identifying and counting birds in their section.
Bird counts and environmental information, such as weather, are entered into National Audubon’s website. The data entry deadline is the end of February. National Audubon reviews the data, and regional editors check counts, because people could misidentify bird species. If there’s an unusual bird species listed that may have been misidentified, Petersen said regional editors will contact the compiler and change the count if needed. “The most exciting birds on Christmas Bird Counts tend to be fancy birds or vagrants that don’t belong here, like the Pink-footed goose, a European species, and the Barnacle Goose,” Petersen said. Jim Berry, the Cape Ann compiler, said this year they had about 115 species, which is above average. “The easterly winds brought fantastic numbers of pelagic birds [birds that spend a lot of time on the open ocean] close to shore in Rockport, especially alcids, the generic term for puffins and their relatives,” Berry said in an e-mail. “Our people there counted almost 4,700 Dovekies, the smallest [Atlantic] alcid, breaking the old record from 1957.” Berry also said a black vulture was spotted in Rockport, which has been hanging around a dumpster. “It’s the second record ever for this species on the Cape Ann count — the first was in 1937!”

Above: A Snowy Owl photographed at Scusset Beach State Park in Bourne on Jan 24, 2018. Ten snowy owls were counted at Logan Airport in this year's Greater Boston Christmas Bird Count.JIM SWEENEY
Bob Stymeist, compiler for the Greater Boston Christmas Bird Count, held on Dec. 16, said in an e-mail that 115 volunteers participated this year. They tallied 118 species, including seven species of owls. Ten Snowy Owls were spotted at Logan Airport.
The Christmas Bird Count is one of the two most critical databases in ornithological science that enables researchers to understand how the birds of the Americas are doing, said Geoff LeBaron, Christmas Bird Count director, National Audubon Science Division. “The CBC gives us a winter snapshot,” LeBaron said in an e-mail, “and the other program, the Breeding Bird Survey, gives us a summer snapshot.” Petersen said data are used by researchers to look for trends such as increasing or decreasing numbers of a given species, the impact of global warming on various birds, and whether species’ ranges are expanding or retreating. “For example, mockingbirds, cardinals, and tufted titmice were rare in Massachusetts in the 1950s, but are now more common in Massachusetts,” Petersen said. “Historically, they were more southern species.” Petersen said the Christmas Bird Count is a gigantic project, but it’s also “a very festive sort of thing.” “At the end of the day, the groups meet up to tally the results,” said Stymeist. In the Greater Boston bird count, “we gather at Mass Audubon’s Habitat Sanctuary in Belmont, enjoy some home-cooked food and drinks, and contribute to citizen science.”

Above: A dovekie photographed in Provincetown Harbor on Jan 31, 2018. Observers counted almost 4,700 dovekies in Rockport this year, a new record for the Cape Ann Christmas Bird Count. JIM SWEENEY
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