Come join the fun on one of our area’s counts. They are an opportunity for beginning and expert birds to get together and share an enjoyable holiday tradition.
Ennis Wednesday, December 14th
Compiler: Robin Wolcott (406) 581-5418
pajaros@wewocotts.com (email preferred)
Meet at Yesterday’s Café in the Ennis Pharmacy,
By 7:30 AM or sooner for breakfast
Bozeman Saturday, December 17th
Compiler: John Parker (406) 586-5863
Meet at Perkins Restaurant, 2505 West Main, in Bozeman,
between 7-7:30 AM
West Yellowstone Sunday, December 18th
Compiler: Brad Barth (406) 640-2628
Meet at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
West Yellowstone at 8:30 AM
LivingstonSunday, December 18th
Compiler: Sally MacDonald (406) 223-9167
Meet at the Northern Pacific Beanery, in Livingston
between 7:00-7:30 AM
Yellowstone Sunday, December 18th
Compiler: Woody Martyn (406) 224-1476
Meet at the Yellowstone Grill, in Gardiner, at 7:00 AM
Three Forks Monday, December 26th
Compiler: Tom Forwood (406) 570-6432
tjfishing75@gmail.com (email preferred)
Meet at Wheat Montana at exit 274
at 8:30 AM or by 8:00 for breakfast
Ruby Valley Wednesday, January 4th
Compiler: Tom Forwood (406) 570-6432
tjfishing75@gmail.com (email preferred)
Meet at 8:30 a.m. Location to be announced.
For more information, contact the area count compilers. Please Contact the area compiler before the count, as this will give them the opportunity to plan and organize the count before the count day. Participation in all counts is free.
Some background on the Christmas Bird Count:
The first CBC was done on Christmas Day of 1900 as an alternative activity to an event called the “side hunt” where people chose sides, then went out and shot as many birds as they could. The group that came in with the largest number of dead birds won the event. Frank Chapman, a famed ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History and the editor of Bird-Lore (which became the publication of the National Association of Audubon Societies when that organization formed in 1905) recognized that declining bird populations could not withstand wanton over-hunting, and proposed to count birds on Christmas Day rather than shoot them.
Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running Citizen Science survey in the world. The CBC is an early-winter bird census, where volunteers count every bird they see or hear during one day in a designated 15-mile diameter circle. Count volunteers follow specified routes within the circle. 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
These counts have proven incredibly valuable for what they tell scientists — and all of us — about our changing world.
