The Audubon Christmas Bird Count turns winter birdwatching into a local act of conservation.
If you’re looking for a meaningful way to celebrate the season while connecting with nature, the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) by the National Audubon Society is your call-to-action. Running every year from December 14 to January 5 across the U.S. and Canada, the CBC marks more than a century of community-science bird monitoring.
It began in 1900, at a time when holiday “side hunts” of birds and mammals were common. Ornithologist Frank M. Chapman proposed a new tradition: instead of hunting, bird-lovers would go out and count birds on Christmas Day. That inaugural outing included 27 groups across North America (from Toronto to Pacific Grove) tallying about 90 bird species combined.
Over the ensuing decades the event grew dramatically: today tens of thousands of volunteers across the Americas participate, collecting data used by National Audubon Society and its partners to track long-term bird-population trends, habitat health, and effects of climate change.
The annual event spans 20+ countries in the Western Hemisphere, with thousands of volunteers conducting a 24-hour winter bird census to support over 120 years of community science. Participants join local “circles” for one-day counts, recording every bird species and number sighted. The event helps track changes in bird populations, migration patterns, and environmental health.
Many National Park Service sites and other public lands play an integral role, showcasing diverse ecosystems and offering ideal habitats for bird surveys and opportunities to participate in the count. Some of the many parks participating this year include: Indiana Dunes, Everglades, Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, Big Bend, Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, and Hawai’i Volcano.
This event offers the perfect blend of public land discovery and grassroots science. Whether you’re birding in a national forest, a state park, or your neighborhood preserve, you’re contributing to a legacy of data that spans decades. Warm up your binoculars and join the count this season!
Top photo of the 2009 Christmas Bird Count in Sacramento by USFWS Pacific Southwest Region
