For more than 100 years, birders all over the world have looked forward to December, the time of the Christmas Bird Counts. Data gathered from these counts, or CBCs as they are known, is enormously valuable to scientists and other researchers regarding the abundance and distribution of the world’s bird species.
This year, the pandemic has changed this long tradition. The Kids’ and Teen CBCs for the Sacramento Area have been cancelled. However, while disappointing, this does not mean that children and their families must give up counting birds this winter. Instead, your family can choose a site: a backyard, a nearby park, a school yard, a nature center such as Effie Yeaw, and count the birds you see at that site. There are many options where one might find wintering birds in the Sacramento area.
To be consistent with past CBC dates, you’ll want to count birds the first weekend in January, that is January 2nd or 3rd. Count all the birds you see and keep track of them. This can be for half an hour or all day. Hopefully, you will want to enter them in the citizen science database, eBird. Check out the videos below to learn more about eBird. And if you need help identifying the birds you see, we recommend Merlin Bird ID. You can learn more about Merlin below as well.
Participating in this year’s Christmas Bird Count is a great way to engage with nature and spend some fun time outside. Enjoy!