
The Annual Christmas Bird Count is bound to encourage birdwatchers count new species of birds.
STATES CHRONICLE – The Annual Christmas Bird Count has provided significant data. The event had first taken place back in 1900 in New York, and it was bound to determine a change in the common habit of killing birds. This practice was embraced by communities living back then, being considered a helpful way of exploring how many species are out there. Nowadays, this annual event is meant to gather together all those enthusiasts who want to help, using binoculars instead of guns to observe the species of birds.
The event is organized by the National Audubon Society. Next week, the 117th Christmas Bird Count will start, spreading across the whole country. The game consists of various count outings which are scheduled by local bird watchers in the Inland Northwest. The Spokane Audubon is known to be one of the forty such counts happening in Washington.
In Idaho, local birders have organized 30 counting events, including three such events scheduled by the active Coeur d’Alene chapter. All these people will be focusing on identifying through their binoculars new species of birds. Birdwatchers are also able to enjoy very rare sightings. Local Audubon chapters have programmed a lot of initiatives meant to help birders understand birding trends. They will also be able to identify several species of birds which visit this region.
People responsible for the organizing of the event are pleased to invite newcomers to attend to counts by joining the groups of birdwatchers. They are bound to analyze 15-mile diameter circles on specific days starting with December 14 until January 5th. During these 116 years since the event was first held, researchers have managed to gather a lot of information keeping the number of all bird species which were discovered so far.
This year, approximately 76,669 volunteers had signed up to participate in this event, being split into 2,505 groups responsible for counting birds across Pacific Islands, Bermuda, Latin America and North America. They were able to count up to 58.9 million birds, while the record set for 2015 was even bigger, measuring 68.8 million birds. Birdwatchers have identified approximately 2,607 species. This number could represent a quarter of the avifauna known in the world.
Based on the data revealed by Alan McCoy, approximately 78 participants in the Spokane Christmas Bird Count from this year have listed about 87 bird species.
Image courtesy of: wikipedia