Christmas Bird Count

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for the Wichita Falls area is scheduled for December 14. We have a 25-mile circle to complete. We generally break up the circle into 3 sections, each with its own team to count every bird we can find. The team lists are then consolidated and submitted to the Audubon Society. 

The CBC is the longest running citizen science project in the U.S., starting in 1900. On Christmas day of that year, 27 people started the count, in various locations across the country, counting 90 different species. It is now conducted in 20 countries in the western hemisphere.

If I remember correctly, our CBC has be held since 1954.

I'll be starting at 7:00 AM and bird pretty much all day. It is a combination of driving and walking. The other two teams have their own schedule, but are similar to mine. People can also count at their feeders. The data compiler needs to know who is taking part in order to make arrangements to get the data to add to the report. If the weather is so bad that we are unlikely to find many birds or it is unsafe to drive, the count will be rescheduled to the following weekend.

If you would like to take part in this year's CBC, whether for an hour or an entire day, contact me at txbirds@gmail.com.

Birding is Good for You!

 

Me birding at Lake Arrowhead 
State Park (several years ago)

I was reading an article in the March 2024 American Birding Association magazine, Birding, titled, "The Birding Prescription." Although the ABA posts its magazines online, the March issue isn't posted yet, and it will be in a members only area of the website. I am fairly certain this isn't a magazine carried by the Wichita Falls Public Library, although I haven't looked at their magazine selection for some time.

I know I always feel better after being outside birdwatching (or watching birds through the window on days I can't/don't want to go anywhere). However, this article outlines the author's anecdotal experience with birding (or ornitherapy, as she calls it) when she was fighting breast cancer. After this, she summarizes results from multiple studies which indicate birdwatching has many positive affects on people. Here is a summary of the main points:

• Listening to bird song for 6 minutes can reduce anxiety and irrational thinking for up to 8 hours
• Although not necessarily birdwatching, 20 minutes of exposure to green spaces lowers cortisol (stress hormone)
• Participation in citizen science activities improves well-being (that's part of the reason members of our local Texas Master Naturalist chapter are such a positive group!)
• People who live in areas with higher bird diversity experience fewer hospital admissions for mood and anxiety disorders
• Birding can help restore attentiveness, reversing attention drain (attention restoration therapy)
• Offer social connections. Feelings of isolation and loneliness and lack of connections may increase the risk of premature death.

The author provides a list of references to the various studies she cites, so if you want to do more study on your own, you can do so.

Whether you agree with all of the assertions in her article or not, it doesn't cost anything to watch the birds. Try it our for yourself. I know some time birdwatching is always a pick me up for me.

Good birding!

It's Project Feederwatch Time!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has several citizen science projects. Project Feederwatch is one of them. I have been participating for 26 years. It doesn't cost much to take part, it doesn't require a lot of time, and anyone can take part, regardless of mobility. It's a fun activity to do with kids as well.

Loki's "Time to feed the birds" stare

My dogs, Loki and Sirius, love to feed the birds. I'd say it's their favorite activity outside of breakfast and dinner. I usually go out to feed the birds after breakfast. If I don't, the boys will stare at me. If that doesn't work they will start nudging me or climbing up in my lap to remind me the birds are starving.

They could care less about the birds eating. They love eating the bird seed themselves. Since I ground feed as well as put food in the feeders, they graze on the food on the ground. I try to scatter it all over the yard so they don't eat it all. I don't buy cheap bird food.

The boys grazing on bird food

Last year, I carried a 20-lb bag of black oil sunflower seed out back to put in the bin and discovered I didn't have my scissors to open it, so I set the bag on the deck to go back in the house to get them. Once I got in the kitchen to get my scissors, I got distracted (the story of my life), so it was a good half hour before I remembered I still needed to put the food in the bin. When I went out, one of the dogs (probably Loki) had ripped open the bag and eaten a couple of cups of sunflower seed. Fortunately, sunflower seeds are not bad for dogs (although Loki is part goat and eats anything he can get into his mouth).

Project Feederwatch runs November through April. Although it is underway for this year, it isn't too late to sign up. You still have some months to enjoy the birds in your yard and contribute to our knowledge of birds.

Good birding!

Project Feederwatch Starts This Weekend

Downy woodpecker.

Photo by Errol Taskin/Project Feederwatch

One of my favorite citizen science activities is Project Feederwatch. I have been participating for 18 seasons! Feederwatch is a good way to learn the common birds that regularly visit your backyard. It would be a great project to do with your kids or grandkids. I count birds every time I pass by my windows and keep a running tally for the two days. It only takes about 5 minutes to input the count data each week.

Although I feed birds all year, I put out additional feeders in the Feederwatch season. I started adding feeders last weekend and will have them all up by this weekend.

Project Feederwatch only costs $18 per year to participate ($15 if you are a member of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.) There is still time to sign up.

For more information about the program and what the data is used for, see the Project Feederwatch Project Overview.

You can watch the birds from the comfort of your warm, dry home; enjoy the birds; and contribute to our knowledge of these fascinating animals.

Good birding!

Book Review: How to Be a Better Birder

Princeton University Press sent me a sweet little volume, How to Be a Better Birder, by Derek Lovitch. At first glance, I thought it might be a rehash of some other books on bird identification using the "whole bird" concept versus relying upon field marks. And the book does have some discussion on that point, although Lovitch pays homage to several of those other books in his first chapter.

I have been fortunate for the past few years to teach the basic birding class for the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist training class. My approach to teaching identification starts with "when and where" and proceeds through a list of items to consider, that includes color and field marks. However, I try to downplay those items as most birders, especially novices, place too much emphasis on only them, to their detriment.  Lovitch has a chapter on "Birding by Habitat" as well. His discussions of geography and weather and their impact on seeing the most birds, especially during migration, were especially interesting. I have been working on my sparrow identification skills for some time--his short section on why this group of birds shouldn't intimidate birders was very useful.

However, one of the unique aspects of the book is how technology can make you a better birder. I always wondered about the interest in the radar images of night migration and just how useful that could be to the average birder, but Lovitch explains this, and I will definitely pay more attention in the future.

As I am involved in several citizen science projects about birds, I was glad to see a chapter on how birders can put the observations to use in helping capture knowledge about birds that can postively impact their conservation.

Derek Lovitch's advice on how to be a better birder? Go birding! I wholeheartedly agree.

Birders at any experience level will find something of interest in this slender volume. The book is available from your local bookstore for $19.95 or from Amazon for $13.23.

Good birding!

Project Feederwatch Season Ends

April 8 is the formal end date for Cornell's Lab of Ornithology's Project Feederwatch season. However, since I count weekends, this past weekend was my last count. I had a busy weekend, so I only managed to count on Sunday afternoon, so I didn't get many birds. I have been participating in Project Feederwatch for many years. It is gratifying to know that I can share the information I collect while participating in an activity I enjoy and benefit the birds. After I updated my information for the weekend, I looked at my summary for the year. Not surprisingly, I had the largest number of species and individuals during the snow storm in early February with 65 individuals of 13 species (Project Feederwatch methodology is to count the largest number of individuals seen at one time--so there were probably more than that present.) Also no suprise was that the highest number of any species seen at one time over the entire period was the white-winged dove, followed closely by the house sparrow. The dark-eyed junco also had good numbers. I'll look forward to seeing the consolidated report from Cornell later in the year, so see what the data says about birds throughout the US and Canada. If you don't already participate in Project Feederwatch, consider doing so next season, which starts in November. There is a small fee to take part, but well worth the money for the enjoyment. This would be a super activity for those who home school their children. In fact, there is a page just for this. There are many citizen science projects related to birds. Those sponsored by the Lab are listed here. Good birding!

Funky Nest Contest

OK, so this isn't exactly a "funky" nest, but it's a nest.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is again holding its Funky Nests in Funky Places contest.

Ever seen a bird build its nest in an odd place? Here's your chance to share your photo or video and perhaps win a prize. The deadline for entries is June 1. The rules are on their website.

This contest is part of the Lab's year around Celebrate Urban Birds citizen science program.

Good birding!

A Mailbox Bonanza

I haven't had much of an opportunity to get out to watch birds lately, so I am suffering from withdrawal. Sometimes I have to get my birding fix some other way. Yesterday was a bonanza in the mailbox.

First, TOS is running a special by sending extra copies of old annuals to members. I asked for copies. They arrived yesterday, so I spent the evening reading old articles. I also got my Project Feederwatch materials from Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology. I have been a feederwatcher for several years and always get excited when the materials come. Project Feederwatch is one of several citizen science projects sponsored by Cornell. The data helps researchers learn more about bird populations and ranges in the United States. I'm ready to do my part.

In Project Feederwatch, people watch birds during 2-day periods between mid-November and March, and record the numbers of birds of different species that come to their feeders. There are some birds which do not come to feeders, so not all birds are covered in this study. But it does include birds that prey on birds at the feeders, such as roadrunners, merlins, and sharp-shinned hawks.

Good birding!