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Ornithological Forecast & Christmas Bird Counts
December 2024
Bill Rowe
December is winter, without a doubt, but that doesn’t mean that the birds are static. Many of them are still very much on the move—waterfowl in particular, which continue to come south and accumulate wherever there are wetlands that remain unfrozen (as is often the case in early winter). Our area is now hosting some of the reintroduced Trumpeter Swans that have found Missouri to be a good wintering site, accompanied by their (usually) less numerous relative, the Tundra Swan, and by a wide assortment of ducks and geese. Gulls, too, may accumulate here and there, wherever conditions are good for flock formation (namely, plenty of fish and places to rest). We may already see a Lesser Black-backed Gull or two among the Ring-bills and American Herring Gulls, and as the weeks go by and it gets colder to the north, chances increase of seeing the first Iceland or Glaucous Gulls. The woodland birds are now settled into their winter pattern of moving about in loose multi-species groups, with lots of titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers, and maybe Yellow-rumped Warblers, plus some kinglets, creepers, wrens, and Purple Finches. Meanwhile, brushy and weedy areas are best for sparrow diversity, with ten or more species possible through the winter, and open fields are always worth checking for Horned Lark and Lapland Longspur flocks, for raptors soaring around or posted in an isolated tree, or for the possibility of a rare visitor like a Snowy Owl or a Northern Shrike. And December also brings us a group of special birding events, namely…
Christmas Bird Counts, probably the first and the longest-running citizen-science project in the world. They were started in 1900 by the ornithologist Frank Chapman as an alternative to a Christmas tradition called the “side hunt,” his idea being that instead of hunting birds, you would find and count as many as you could in one day within a defined area. The process was standardized long ago and now involves around 80,000 participants on over 2600 counts, each taking place within a 15-mile-diameter circle somewhere in the Western Hemisphere. One person, the “compiler,” organizes the count circle by assigning individuals or small groups to cover various subsections of it. They count, or estimate, the numbers of every bird species they can find within their section and report the results to the compiler, who adds everything up and enters the data on a website run by National Audubon. In the aggregate, these data can reveal a lot about trends in bird populations in the early-winter period of December 14 to January 5 (the “count period” within which all of them occur).
There is a lot more to explain about CBC’s, but the bottom line is that they are among the outstanding birding events of the year: fun, exhilarating, and useful as well. Here at St. Louis, there are CBC’s covering traditional circles in various parts of the area. If you have never taken part in one but might like to try, the key thing is to contact the compiler well ahead of time to see where your help may be needed. And if you are unsure about covering an area by yourself, the compiler may be able to set you up with more experienced birders.
We have a handy electronic document that explains more about procedures and provides basic information about several of the St. Louis area CBC’s, including date, location, and the name and email of the compiler. If you would like to have this information, please send your request to amy@stlouisaudubon.org. If you still have questions after reading the document, feel free to contact me at bill@stlouisaudubon.org.
Photo above: Tufted Titmouse
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