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It’s for the birds

You can join the Christmas Bird Count

Even in a cold Manitoba winter, there are birds around, and sometimes there are surprises. We’ve all heard the story of the robin that stayed the winter. But how often do these things happen and are patterns changing over the years?

The Christmas Bird Count is a census of early-winter bird populations sponsored by Bird Studies Canada in partnership with the Audubon Society. People across North America cooperate to count birds in their area between Dec. 14 to Jan. 5. The results are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology, representing over a century of unbroken data on trends of early-winter bird populations across the continent. Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, is citizen science in action.

The first official count in Manitoba took place in 1925. Nature Manitoba has been organizing regular counts in Winnipeg and publishing count results in their newsletter since the 1960s.

Christmas Bird Counts (CBC) are held regularly in several locations in Manitoba and are a great reason to get outside and enjoy the season. For those of you who are interested in participating, here is a brief description of the procedure. Parties will be out in the field, covering a section of the count circle by walking and driving for much of the day – ideally from about 8 a.m. to about 4 p.m. Novice counters would be teamed with experienced counters. The objective is to count all the individuals of all the bird species seen or heard, while keeping track of mileages and time on foot and by vehicle.

During the 2021 event, a total of 473 CBC circles submitted results. Field counters and feeder counters reported 3,460,743 individual birds within 294 species in Canada.

In Manitoba, a seemingly moderate start to winter took a turn after Boxing Day, when heavy snowfall and cold temperatures set in. The coldest circle for the 122nd was Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, where it was -45 degrees Celsius for the duration of the count.

Many abundant species are found Canada wide like Canada Goose, European Starling, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee and House Sparrow; but the Common Raven remains the most widespread species, detected on more counts (463) than any other species.

Five Red-bellied Woodpeckers in Winnipeg, and a Chipping Sparrow at Pinawa, were also worth noting.

To participate in the Christmas Bird Count this year, contact the CBC organizer in your area to register. In western Manitoba - Gillian Richards at westman.naturalists@gmail.com  for the Brandon event on Dec. 18 as well as the Rivers count on Jan. 2, 2023. To join birders in Riding Mountain National Park contact George Hartlen at friends.rmnp@mymts.net for their December 20 event.

Sometimes we need a reason to push ourselves out the door in the depths of our Manitoba winter. Here’s a reason.

 

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