Counting Birds

Joe Meche is a past president of the North Cascades Audubon Society and is still active in chapter affairs.He has been watching birds for more than 50 years and photographing birds and landscapes for more than 30 years. He has written more than 100 articles for Whatcom Watch.

Of the many conversations that take place between birdwatchers and even a few non-watchers, it seems that the discussion often gets around to counting birds or more precisely, how to do it. It’s easy enough to count small numbers of individual birds that might be stationary or even flying by, but it’s also easy to feel intimidated when you encounter a flock of several thousand northern pintails or American wigeons. This has always been a good subject to demonstrate the concept of variations on a theme.

For avid birdwatchers and especially participants in censuses and surveys, it’s essential to establish your own method for enumerating what you see. Since this is a very subjective activity, the individual counter is free to decide on the system that works best for them. It is usually a given that you know the identity of what you’re seeing, but counting them is another matter altogether. Considering that any count will be at best an estimate of the total number of birds, try to make your estimate conservative. To avoid double counting, common sense is the best measure to use. Trails that you take going into an area might have the same birds when you come back, so try to count them only once.

A good rule of thumb for counting large flocks of birds is to establish the number of birds in a segment of the flock and remember that number as you scan the entire flock. As you scan left to right, multiply the number of segments by the number you’ve established as your base for each segment. When we were monitoring the Caspian terns on the waterfront two years ago, a field tech and I were never more than ten or twenty birds apart on our separate counts. In this case and with any large flock of birds, a hand counter is a good tool to utilize. You simply click the counter as you scan each segment in the flock and multiply accordingly.

A situation of having a stationary flock of birds to count is ideal. If it’s a large nesting colony and the birds are active, it’s certainly more challenging, but it’s still a matter of making your best estimate on the total number of birds that you’re seeing. In the case of a large flock of birds on the wing, establish a vertical line and count segments of the flock as they cross that line. This is a variation on counting segments in a resting or foraging flock on the ground.

Another key ingredient when counting birds is to keep track of numbers by writing everything down while you’re counting. It’s easier to compile your notes at home if you have the written numbers on hand than it is to try to remember what you saw earlier in the day. As with many things, the key to feeling comfortable about counting birds is practice, and then more practice. Active birdwatchers often participate in surveys and censuses that take place throughout the year to keep their counting skills honed. All of these organized counts are important to the avian data base.

If you wish to practice your counting skills this time of year, it is essential to consider appropriate layers. Nothing affects a count more than the discomfort of the counter, especially if you plan to spend the day outdoors in search of birds. On the days leading up to Sunday, December 16, local birdwatchers/bird counters will keep an eager eye on the weather report for the day. The reason for this activity is to be prepared for participation in the world’s largest citizen-science effort – the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). This year’s count will be the 113th CBC and the effort seems to get more widespread every year.

This annual effort to monitor winter bird populations began with only a handful of counters in 1900, while the Bellingham CBC has been going strong since 1967. The count has become a primary focus as well as the culmination of the year for many birdwatchers. As much a traditional social occasion as it is an organized effort to count birds, data collected by CBCs is an invaluable tool for scientists and conservationists. Combined with other counts like the Breeding Bird Survey and the International Migratory Bird Day count in May, the collective data represents an accurate assessment of bird movements and population trends throughout the year.

The concept of the CBC is relatively simple and it seems to have worked well enough for many years. Each count circle covers a designated area that is 15 miles in diameter and participants count every bird within the circle, whether they are working individually or as part of a team effort. There might be slight variations on this theme but the primary purpose is to count birds in a consistent manner. These counts are focused on all birds, so no matter how common the species, every bird counts on the CBC.

Each count circle is divided into well-defined territories and each territory has a party leader who is responsible for covering the area as well as possible from dawn to dusk on count day. Each party might consist of one or more individual counters, depending entirely on the needs of the party leader. One good way to gain experience is to be the scribe for an established party. It might be hectic at times but it’s always fun, and it’s a good excuse to spend the day watching birds.

As it is with most large-scale undertakings, organization has been the key to the success of the CBC. From its inception, the driving force behind the entire data gathering mechanism has been a dedicated force of volunteers. While the social aspect of each count is evident, counters bend to the task at hand knowing the value of their efforts. The weather conditions on count day are recorded but inclement weather is just part of the day in the field. The general practice is that counts go on, regardless of weather. After all, the birds will be there.

This year’s count period extends from December 14, 2012, to January 5, 2013, and tens of thousands of participants in over 2,000 count circles will be out to count birds regardless of weather conditions. It’s understandable that folks in San Diego might have slightly more pleasant conditions than their counterparts in Edmonton, Alberta.

For more information on the CBC, as well as other counts and censuses taking place in North America, visit the website of the National Audubon Society at http://www.audubon.org. For information on the Bellingham CBC, visit the web site of our local Audubon chapter at http://www.northcascadesaudubon.org.

See you in the field!