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From Ketchikan to Prudhoe Bay, every year Alaskans bundle up and gather together to celebrate the holiday season by braving the elements for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
Groups of volunteers select a day between December 14, 2012 and January 5, 2013 to conduct a count. They have 24 hours to record as many birds as possible within a 15-mile diameter circle. Volunteers participate in counts in all 50 states, in all Canadian provinces, several Central and South American countries, and several Pacific and Caribbean islands. Last year there were 38 counts held across Alaska. Many counts end with a social gathering to tally lists and crow over the best birds.
This year, Copper Center kicks off the count on December 14, but many groups will hold their counts on December 15, the first Saturday of the count window. See the Christmas Bird Count Calendar on the Audubon Alaska website for dates and local contact details.
This is the first year that the count will be offered as a free event. Previously, participants paid a $5 fee to support an annual publication, which will now appear in online format.
First organized in the Lower 48 and eastern Canada with just 27 birdwatchers in 1900, this season marks the 113th Christmas Bird Count. In Alaska, volunteers have carried out Christmas Bird Counts since before statehood.
“The Christmas Bird Count is a great way for volunteers of all ages, from kids to grandparents, to participate together in one of the longest running citizen-science projects in the world,” said Nils Warnock, Executive Director of Audubon Alaska. “With more than a century of data nationwide and 70 years in Alaska, this is a powerful tool that helps scientists look for changes in Alaska’s bird populations and ranges.”
There are more birds, and bird watchers, than you might expect in Alaska in the winter. The 1,013 observers (an Alaska record) who participated last year tallied 141 species and 132,947 individual birds (both below the five-year average). Kodiak captured the title of seeing the most species: 78. The Prudhoe Bay count had its 25th year of recording only a single species, Common Raven. That’s persistence!
During “Count Week”, the three days before and after the actual count, Anchorage added a new species to the Alaska list for the Christmas Bird Count. Volunteers spotted a Dusky Thrush, an Asian bird that had wandered far from home, in a residential neighborhood.
Several Southeast Alaska counts set Alaska high-count records. Volunteers counted 48 Canvasbacks on the Craig-Klawock count; 1,914 Barrow’s Goldeneyes in Wrangell; and 402 Western Grebes in Ketchikan.
The Shemya count set a new Alaska high-count record, recording 17 Laysan Albatross, a bird mostly only seen far out at sea. Within Southwestern Alaska, Unalaska set new high counts with 21 Common Loons, 74 Mew Gulls, and 14 Dark-eyed Juncos. In Western Alaska, Bethel recorded high counts of 6 Northern Goshawks, 84 Black-capped Chickadee, and 592 Pine Grosbeaks.
Anchorage and Fairbanks once again made the elite list of about 60 Christmas Bird Counts in the hemisphere with 100 or more participants, with 150 people in Anchorage and 113 in Fairbanks turning out for the events.
Alaska Christmas Bird Counts welcome volunteers of all skill levels. For more Christmas Bird Count dates and contact information in Alaska communities, see the Christmas Bird Count Calendar on the Audubon Alaska website, or contact Beth Peluso at (907) 276-7034 or bpeluso@audubon.org.
Resources:
Detailed results of last year’s Christmas Bird Count