Bird Counts
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Club sponsor several different bird Count events through the year, using "citizen scientists" to gather data on bird populations.
The Great Backyard Bird Count
The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. The Great Backyard Bird Count will be held next on Feb. 18-21, 2011.
We don't have a separate club activity for this count, but encourage members to participate on their own. In 2010, Louisville birders submitted 107 checklists with 64 different species, but Columbia, Kentucky, was the number one community of birders with 574 checklists submitted.
Christmas Bird Count
This year marked the 112th Christmas Bird Count sponsored by the National Audubon Society. Beckham members participated in more than one count.
Pat and Jane Bell led the Louisville count:
It was a clear and sunny day for the Louisville CBC on Sunday, December 18, 2011. The 34 observers totaled 89 species which was good because several species of ducks were missed due to the high water on the Ohio River. Highlights included 2 Blue-winged Teal, 3 Gray Catbirds, 1 White-eyed Vireo, 3 Brown Thrashers and several flocks of Sandhill Cranes totaling 217. Thanks to all the observers on the Louisville CBC.
Barbara Woerner reports on the Otter Creek Count:
Mixed species flock of birds among cedars and pines; Charlie & Barbara both had brief looks at what appeared to be ?Pine Siskin?
Thanks to everyone for helping out. The help and especially the enthusiasm from everyone made it a really fun day. Really nice of Charlie to lead us on a tour of different types of habitats, and to tell us about plans for different areas of the park.
Looking forward to returning to Otter Creek Park!
| Canada Goose 40 Mallard Duck 25 Northern Pintail 1 Wild Turkey 13 Great Blue Heron 1 Black Vulture 7 Turkey Vulture 8 Bald Eagle 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper's Hawk 2 Sandhill Crane 131 Ring-billed Gull 1 Mourning Dove 1 Barred Owl 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-headed Woodpecker 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 28 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 10 Hairy Woodpecker 8 Northern Flicker 7 Pileated Woodpecker 4 |
Blue Jay 26 American Crow 15 Carolina Chickadee 30 Tufted Titmouse 56 White-breasted Nuthatch 21 Brown Creeper 3 Carolina Wren 12 Winter Wren 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet 43 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6 Eastern Bluebird 16 Hermit Thrush 2 American Robin 220 Northern Mockingbird 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler 75 Pine Warbler 1 Eastern Towhee 5 Field Sparrow 5 Song Sparrow 8 White-throated Sparrow 18 Dark-eyed Junco 35 Northern Cardinal 30 American Goldfinch 9 House Sparrow 5 |
Project Feeder Watch
Project FeederWatch is a winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. FeederWatchers periodically count the birds they see at their feeders from November through early April and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. FeederWatch data help scientists track broad scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.
Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.
eBird
A real-time, online checklist program, eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution at a variety of spatial and temporal scales.
Many birders record their regular bird sightings on eBird.org. A birder simply enters when, where, and how they went birding, then fills out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird provides various options for data gathering including point counts, transects, and area searches. Automated data quality filters developed by regional bird experts review all submissions before they enter the database. Local experts review unusual records that are flagged by the filters.