Prior to the turn of the 20th century, there was a long tradition of pushing oneself away from the table on Christmas and finding an excuse to go traipsing off through the woods. Part of the tradition was to take part in a contest often called a “Side Hunt.” Participants would pick up their hunting guns, take “sides,” and the team bringing back the most birds (or critters) won the contest.
During the late Victorian era, many amateur naturalists started becoming alarmed about the loss of many once common bird species. The Passenger Pigeon was on the verge of extinction. Once-huge flocks that blackened the skies were gone in a person’s lifetime. Growing numbers of concerned people felt there should be a less lethal alternative to the popular side hunt.
Enter the newly formed Audubon Society and one of its officers, Frank Chapman. He proposed to replace the Christmas Side Hunt with a “Christmas Bird Census.” So in the holiday season of the year 1900, a new tradition began with 25 bird counts being organized across the country. Collectively, 89 species of birds were documented and 18,500 individual birds were tallied on that Christmas Day in 1900.
Since that time, the Christmas Bird Count has grown to an international event with over 2,400 different counts established. Over 71,600 volunteers are enlisted to identify and count birds, and last year, over 2,403 species were identified, and over 66,243,371 individual birds were tallied. The numbers are staggering, and it is the largest and longest running citizen scientist survey on earth.
All of this data is compiled and it gives biologists an excellent snapshot of bird populations. By studying the trends, we can pinpoint and react to sudden population declines. A good example is in the 1980’s when data from the counts indicated a real decline in wintering populations of the American Black Duck. Conservation measures were put into effect to reduce hunting pressure on this species. Counts can also pick up subtle shifts in populations of birds as well. We have seen that bird ranges have shifted over the 114 years of bird counts due to the changes in global climate. Much like the “canary in the coal mine,” these birds are telling us that something is definitely happening to our planet’s climate.
The shrinking and shifting ranges of many species of birds are quite concerning. Data suggests that there are over 300 species of birds in the United States (that’s nearly half of the species we have) that are in peril. National Audubon’s Bird and Climate Change Report can be found online http://climate.audubon.org and is a great resource for understanding the long-term trends of bird populations and projecting how those trends will continue into the future. For example, when we look at the historic data concerning the once common Eastern Whip-poor-will, the future is looking quite bleak. By 2080, Audubon projects that 78 percent of this bird’s breeding range and 55 percent of its wintering range will no longer be able to support the bird. This bird is heavily dependent on open understory forest communities. This habitat is adversely affected by local shifts in weather patterns due to long-term climate change. It is estimated that only 2 percent of its current breeding range and 1 percent of its winter range is going to remain stable under the most widely accepted long-term climate models. This is just one of over 300 species that could disappear before the end of the century. We know the “canary in the coal mine” is sick… do we have the smarts to do something about it? Think about who is next in line after the canary keels over. We were smart enough to do something about the “Side Hunt.” It’s within our ability to do something about this as well.
This year marks the 115th Annual Christmas Bird Count. Our local Audubon Society is busily involved in three counts, which document the overwinter populations of over 100 species of birds in the Illinois River Valley. The results of these counts are shared with folks at Peoria Audubon’s January Membership Meeting and Potluck, which will be held this year starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Forest Park Nature Center in Peoria Heights. It’s a free program and the public is invited.