The Mountaineer Chapter of the National Audubon Society will do its Christmas bird count on Dec. 14, and this year’s count will include two events for children.
From 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at the WVU Arboretum, kids can learn about the Christmas count so they can better participate the following week.
West Virginia Young Birders, led by Katie Fallon, will participate in the count from 9-11 a.m. Dec. 14 on Morgan Run Road.
A 15-mile circle will be divided into units, with a leader assigned to each sector for the count. The circle centers on Morgantown. Bird feeder counts are also welcome.
Children and adults can join in the count by contacting compiler LeJay Graffious at LeJay@oldhemlock.org.
About 30 people have participated in each recent count, Graffious said.
According to the Audubon Society website, “prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas ‘side hunt.’ ”
They competed to see who could kill the most birds and/or other animals. Conservationists were concerned about dwindling bird populations, and beginning on Christmas 1900, “ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition — a ‘Christmas Bird Census’ that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.”
The Mountaineer Chapter was formed in 1970. Christmas Bird Counts in the Morgantown area were not as organized prior to 1982, but the chapter has all the data collected since 1982, when 42 species were recorded. The chapter’s highest count was in 2017, when 94 species were recorded.
Graffious said the trend is an increase in species and decrease in the number of individuals. More species are being identified because of better participation in the count and more experienced birders. He attributed the decrease in individuals to loss of habitat.
For more information on the National Audubon Society go to: audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count
For information on the Mountaineer Chapter count: mountaineeraudubon.org/index.php/cbc/
Information on other Christmas bird counts in West Virginia can be found at: brooksbirdclub.org/wv-christmas-bird-counts.html
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