Christmas Bird Count
What is the Christmas Bird Count?
More than 50,000 observers participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts 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 Americas. Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, or "CBC", is citizen science in action.
How is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) conducted?
Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. It’s not just a species tally—all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day. If observers live within a CBC circle, they may arrange in advance to count the birds at their feeders and submit those data to their compiler. All individual CBC’s are conducted in the period from December 14 to January 5 (inclusive dates) each season, and each count is conducted in one calendar day.
COVID-19 and Christmas Bird Counts
The pandemic will affect CBC participation. Pending local restrictions, many counts will be done under COVID-19 guidelines sent to local compilers while other counts will likely be cancelled. See our Calendar section for local CBC availability. More general information regarding Christmas Bird Counts is available at https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count.
123rd CBC Summaries
National Audubon Society summaries of the 14 December 2022 to 5 January 2023 — the 123rd Christmas Bird Count — are available at these two links:
Highest Individual Tallies in the US, 123rd CBC
Summary of the 123rd Christmas Bird Count
The total number of counts included in this season’s results was 2625 counts (476 in Canada, 1998 in the United States, and 151 in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Pacific Islands) is only second to the 2646 counts included in the 120th CBC, which ended just before the pandemic was recognized. Included in that near-record total are the 31 new count circles (2 in Canada, 26 in the United States, and 3 in Latin America) contributing to this year’s global effort.
The number of participants in the 123rd CBC, 79,005 (67,203 field observers and 11,802 feeder watchers), was the third highest ever, lower than the record high 81,601 in the incredible 120th Count, and also lower than last season’s 76,880. The complete breakdown in participation included 14,279 observers in Canada (10,463 field observers and 3816 feeder watchers), 61,560 observers in the United States (53,722 field observers and 7838 feeder watchers), and 3166 folks (3018 field observers and 148 feeder watchers) in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Pacific Islands.
From all counts in every region, the total number species tallied in the 123rd CBC was 2244, plus 432 hybrids and identifiable forms. This overall total is slightly lower than in the past couple of years, but unfortunately this season there were no counts from Cuba or Honduras, and fewer counts in Colombia and Brazil due to Covid issues and other challenges.
Included in that overall total, United States Christmas Bird Counts reported 671 species, 70 infraspecific forms, and 35 exotic species. The Southern Lapwing at Oscoda, Michigan, and the Wood Sandpiper at San Jacinto Lake, California, were new species to the cumulative North American CBC database. Additionally, Burrowing Parakeet at San Diego, California, an exotic introduced species, was new. And it should be noted that the first-ever CBC Social Flycatcher from last season returned to Brownsville, Texas in the 123rd CBC.
Elsewhere, and essentially continentally, Northern Bobwhite and Loggerhead Shrike continue to decline. In general, this 123rd CBC season, there were no “irruptions” of boreal raptors, winter finches, or winter frugivores, although Bohemian Waxwings and Pine Grosbeaks did move into some regions south of their “normal” habitats.
In the big picture, on CBCs and at other times of year, keep your eyes peeled for Common Ravens and—yes—Limpkins! Ravens are moving southward and increasing their stronghold on the central and southern regions of North America, likely in response to the current lack of persecution and (especially) the proliferation of cell phone towers, which provide perfect nesting habitat for ravens. Limpkins, on the other hand, are exploding northward from the deep Southeastern United States, likely in response to both a warming winter climate and the rapid expansion of introduced tropical apple snails, which the birds have quickly taken a liking to. Additionally, this adaptation seems to have enabled Limpkins to eat other marine invertebrates, further enabling their northward expansion.
Nowhere near a new species for the Christmas Bird Count, but nonetheless one of the most amazing records during the 123rd CBC season, was the White-crowned Pigeon at Wilmington, North Carolina. A nearly non-migratory bird of the deep Caribbean, and normally only found in the Florida Keys on North American CBCs, this bird was an amazing shock, and a first state record, in North Carolina.
Then we have Pink-footed Geese. Back in the days of the movie The Big Year 15 years ago, this species was one of those “holy grail” birds that birders would traverse the continent for at the drop of a hat. During the 123rd season this species was tallied on seven counts on the East Coast from Newfoundland to Delaware, and inland to Kentucky. As with many of the Arctic-breeding geese, including Barnacle, Ross’s, Greater White-fronted, and especially Snow geese, their numbers are rapidly increasing with the warming summer temperatures in the tundra, often to the detriment of other Arctic-breeding shorebirds and land birds. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the coming decades.
Results
Loess Hills Audubon Society members participate in several CBC's each year. Some members serve as the count compilers while others provide the information. Listed below are links to the results of some of those counts.
124th CBC