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		The Nature Conservancy in Indiana Indiana Homepage Where We Work How We Work Ways of Giving Journey With Nature Events News Press Releases Volunteer Contact

Christmas Bird Count Circles in Indiana Volunteers participating in the CBC are required to count birds within in a 15-mile diameter circle. These circles are organized by a compiler who gathers the information from all birder's within his or her circle. Although the bird count is well on its way, there are several local circles that have yet completed their count. Search for the nearest circle to you for dates, locations, times and compilers.    Oh, and if your home is within the boundaries of an established CBC circle, feel free to stay there and send your sightings to your local compiler. Every bit helps! The Great Backyard Bird Count Interested in more bird counting opportunities? The National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's 10th annual Great Backyard Bird Count takes place every President's Day weekend and provides an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about the birds in their backyard while collecting important data for conservation. Checklists and classroom materials are available for download. Start planning today! Citizen Scientist Projects There are so many ways you can play at part in science without being an actual scientist. Check out other these other citizen science projects to learn how you can help! Various Monarch Butterfly projects - from monitoring larvae to researching migration patterns. World Water Monitoring Day - an international programs centering on the importance of water protection  Journey North - a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. earthdive - how divers and snorkelers can help important aquatic species and indicate how human induced pressures can affect our oceans. National Weather Service's Cooperative Observer Program - citizens helping monitor changes in weather.

Counting is for the birds. Better yet, for the birders. The Annual Christmas Bird Count has begun. Every year, from December 14th to January 5th, birders around the world gather together and count birds for science and for fun.

Audubon's Christmas Bird Count

In 1900, scientist and one of the founding fathers of the National Audubon Society, Frank Chapman, proposed an alternative to the "side hunt" - an annual holiday hunt to see who can shoot the most birds and other small creatures. In the turn of the 20th century, conservation began to creep into the minds of those aware of the overuse, and overkill, of natural resources. Chapman suggested a new holiday tradition in celebration of conservation, the Christmas Bird Census, which would have participants counting the number species they see instead of needlessly killing them. Over a hundred years later, this tradition of conservation has continued, and with its increasing popularity, will continue for hundreds of years more.

On the first Christmas Bird Count, twenty-seven birders recorded 90 species. Last year, almost 58,000 participants - a new record - from all 50 states, Canada, Bermuda, the West Indies, areas in Central & South America and the Pacific Islands counted nearly 70 million birds. The information obtained by last years count as well as future counts will help scientists learn how global warming may affect bird populations, migration routes and ranges of thousands of species.

The Oldest, Continuous Citizen Science Project

What is citizen science, you ask? Citizen science is when networks of volunteers, many of whom have no scientific training, performs and manage research-related tasks as a way to help a larger scientific work.

Citizen scientists usually participate by observing and computing data for whatever subject matter the project is targeting. The Audubon’s Christmas Bird count is the longest citizen science program to date, but there are so many more projects to take part in. For more information on various citizen science projects, check out the list on the column to the right.

What the Christmas Bird Count Tells
Conservationists, Scientists and Citizens

The information gathered by the birders of the Christmas Bird Count is vital for scientists and conservationists alike. Local trends in bird population can indicate habitat fragmentation or signal an immediate environmental threat like groundwater contamination, improper use of pesticides and possible invasive species.

It also tells us when birds rare in our communities are visiting us once again. For example, CBC data reveals that the Pileated Woodpecker has become about ten times more common in Indiana than it was in the early 1960s.

Current and historical data gathered by the Christmas Bird Count can be found on the National Audubon Society webpage. Count information can be sorted by circle or species and maps or graphs can be made for specific birds and locations. The USGS's Christmas Bird Count Summary and Analysis is also a good source for CBC results which includes maps on wintering distributions.

Birds and Birders of Indiana

Wondering what that bird is at your birdfeeder or what birds to expect at your local nature preserve? Check out the electronic version of Mumford and Keller's The Birds of Indiana or Biology Bases’ Birds of Indiana Database. For more specific information on birds in certain areas, Indiana's DNR has a checklist of the Birds of Indiana State Parks and Reservoirs while Dr. Ronald A. Weiss compiled a Field Checklist of the Birds of Indiana for the Chipper Wood Bird Observatory.

Interested in where to go birding in Indiana? The Indiana Audubon Society's Online Birding Guide has a helpful map of where you can go all around the state. The guides detail the site's general information, directions and what birds you might see. If you'd like to join a local Audubon Society group, check out this list of Indiana chapters for the closest one to you.
 

For More Information

The American Birding Association offers publications, information on birding events and a birder's exchange for tool sharing.

BirdSource - Birding with a Purpose

Cornell's Lab of Ornithology offers an Educator's Guide to Bird Study for teacher's interested in teaching their students about birds and birding. Several young Citizen Science project guides are also available.

Cornell's Lab of Ornithology also hosts The Macaulay Library where the world's largest collection of animal sounds and videos are archived.

The Roger Troy Peterson Institute of Nature History's Electronic Naturalist is a great tool for educators and students alike. Check out the units focusing on birds and bird behaviors.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Flickr (cardinals); Photo © Sandra Horvath (sandhill crane); Photo © B. Young McQueen (pileated woodpecker); Photo © Ted Schroeder (short eared owl); Photo © Diane McAllister (northern harrier); Photo © Ted Eubanks (yellow-crowned night heron) - bird images taken from BirdSource.