Hunger Mountain Winter Bird Count - Friday December 27th
Each winter, birdwatchers across the Americas don their binoculars to scour their hometowns, documenting and enjoying resident winter birds. This annual tradition, over a century old, has become a powerful tool for understanding the changes in bird populations over time.
The Winter Bird Count (formerly called the Christmas Bird Count) was created as a peaceful alternative to a traditional yuletide hunt wherein teams competed to kill the most animals in an afternoon. In response to this tradition, founder Frank Chapman announced "a new kind of Christmas side hunt in the form of a Christmas bird-census."
125 years later, more than 60,000 volunteers participate in this census annually, making it one of the world's largest and longest-running community science projects. The WBC has contributed to hundreds of scientific publications and is considered one of the 24 major indicators of climate impacts by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The WBC is now managed by the National Audubon Society, with individual counts taking place in a three week period from December 14th to January 4th each year. This year the Hunger Mountain WBC will take place in the Waterbury-Stowe area on Friday, December 27th.
You can help by keeping your bird feeders full over the coming week, and in particular on Friday 12/27. Birders will be surveying the area throughout that day, and if you see volunteers with binoculars searching for birds give them a friendly wave! You can also join an introductory birding walk, meeting at the Waterbury train station at 8am. If you'd like to learn more about the count or how to sign-up to help count, visit Audubon.org or email local coordinator Zac Cota at zcotaweaver@gmail.com.
Zac Cota
Hunger Mountain WBC Coordinator
zcotaweaver@gmail.com
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