North in the Spring #30: Christmas Bird Count North America by John Neville More than 2200 groups and 7900 participants have got together this year 2023 to do a Christmas Bird count across North America. Last year December 2022, 38.653.545 birds were counted in NA, north of Mexico. The 2023 count is not yet available. The count was also extended into parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Each area has an independent circle 24 km (15 mile) diameter drawn around it. One day was chosen by each circle December 14 -January 5 for the 2023 count. We chose December 15. Birds Canada collects our data coordinated by Yousif Attia birdscanada.org/cbc. The total figures are tabulated at www.audbon.org. The most numerous species was the Red-winged Blackbird 4.942.739. Here on Salt Spring Island British Columbia our count was 217. We divided our circle into zones. The Zone Captain allocates routes to various birders wishing to take part. This can be walking, driving with stops or boating. Others do a backyard count. The objective is to look and listen, to count and identify as many birds as possible! This year we had a well attended party two weeks ahead of the main event to celebrate and pass on last minute info. Other clubs or groups have a get together when they report their results. Nature Salt Spring is our naturalist club and organizer of the event. We have an addition wrinkle in this Island. We are situated within two circles! Therefore, we report the south end to one circle and the north to another. Complicated, aye! After the count, our computer wiz, Tim Marchant, collects just the Salt Spring Island results from both circles. All the numbers across the continent end up being shared with Birds Canada and the National Audubon Society. The totals for this citizen science project give valuable information to governments and various bird societies. For example, is a bird species being threatened with extinction and what can we do about it? Where are birds moving to or from, due to human activity? How is global warming changing the bird habitats? The scientific world widely accepts the data from CBC, Breeding Bird Surveys, weather conditions etc. In addition to the practical contribution, we have the pleasure of being out of doors in the winter. The first CBC was held in 1900 and has continued each year since. A man named Frank Chapman had observed the serious decline in bird numbers. The Passenger Pigeon is an obvious example! The millinery trade was having a huge impact on the bird population at that time. You could see people walking down the street in New York with feathered hats, whole birds and even bird nests on their heads! Chapman proposed that a census of birds be carried out on Christmas Day, rather than counting the number of birds they had shot. 27 people took part in his first count. In 2023, Salt Springers counted 100 species, compared with nearby Victoria’s 143 and an Ecuador community’s 365. A curious new species for our island was a pair of Indian Pea Fowl. Our most numerous species is a dark-eyed Junco (member of the sparrow family) with 1500 counted. The total number of birds counted this year on the island was 15.673. Ring-necked Duck were close to record numbers and American Robin showed a marked decline. My wife and I did our count in two parts: first, walking about 1 km along the shoreline and counting 113 birds. Of note were Bald Eagle, Common Loon and 42 Surf Scoter. Then we sat under our overhanging roof to do a backyard count, avoiding some gentle rain. We counted 75 birds in an hour, mainly coming to our feeders. Sparrows and finches like the seeds, woodpeckers and chickadee like the suet and the hummingbirds have their own feeders. This included 22 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, 1 Coopers Hawk making a fast pass and 10 Anna’s Hummingbird. The hummers are very appealing as they fly within 6 or 7 cm of our face when their feeders are empty! These hummingbirds were originally based in California. As cultivated flowers and hummingbird feeders became available plus the climate warming, they have slowly expanded their range. The CBC helps our understanding and conservation of birds. The scientists estimate that based on our various counts, we have lost about 21/2 billion birds in North America since 1966. The biggest loss are grassland birds: the main cause being the loss of 60% of actual grassland in North America. In Canada this means 250.000 km 2 of native grassland. Some species, such as European Starling and House Sparrow do well in urban areas, around people. For example, we know that 200 European Starlings were introduced into Central Park, New York in 1890 and 91. The official 2022 count for NA starling was 2.867.661. In general terms, birds that inhabit grassland and shrub land, long distance migrants, arctic and shorebirds are declining most. Global warming is influencing some species IE Hairy Woodpecker and White-crowned Sparrow are increasing in a northerly direction in winter and declining to the south. Visit: StateOfCanadasBirds.org Participating in the CBC is good for us socially and being outdoors in the winter is good for our mental and physical health.