Join the Christmas Bird Count

You can be part of the largest, longest-running bird census on the planet. The Christmas Bird Count takes place in later this month, and the Lehigh Valley and vicinity will play an important role.

The Christmas Bird Count is fun but it’s also a crucial element in scientific studies and conservation efforts. For instance, data derived from Christmas Bird Counts helped document the decline of the Bald Eagle in North America and lay the groundwork for the species’ recovery.

Locally, counts will take place in three areas:

Allentown area. Scheduled for all-day Saturday, December 20. Contact your group leader from last year or call Stephen Kloiber at 610-863-3889 to link up.

Wild Creek/Lehigh Gap. Scheduled for all-day Sunday, December 21. Contact your group leader from last year or call Josh Nemeth at 610-573-8577 to link up or e-mail him at allroy1313@rcn.com.

Bethlehem-Easton-Hellertown. Scheduled for all-day Saturday, December 27. Contact your group leader from last year or call Don and Elaine Mease at 610-346-7754 to link up.

The Christmas Bird Count is a major citizen science program. The Christmas count, along with the Breeding Bird Survey, is an essential component of conservation policy in the United States, says David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society.

“Fights over conservation dollars in Congress and statehouses, land management decisions and wildlife policy are all influenced by information collected through the CBC and other citizen science projects,” Yarnold says.

Several improvements are coming to this year’s Christmas Bird Count. The long-standing $5 fee for participation has been eliminated, making the count more inclusive than ever. The National Audubon Society will publish information about the count in Spanish for the first time ever, making the program more accessible to Spanish speakers in the United States and throughout the hemisphere.

Snowy Owl

In southeastern Pennsylvania, another change is the creation of a new category for chickadees. No longer will attempts be made to distinguish Black-capped Chickadees from Carolina Chickadees. These species have overlapped and hybridized, making it difficult to identify one bird from the other.

Locally, last year’s Christmas Bird Count was marked by unusual weather fluctuations, including heavy snowfall, and an amazing influx of Snowy Owls at numerous locations. The birds were rarely seen before in the Lehigh Valley.

Bethlehem’s group led statewide tallies for Greater White-fronted Geese, Ross’s Geese and Cackling Geese. The Lehigh Valley also reported the only Great Egret in Pennsylvania. Bethlehem’s two Iceland Gulls contributed to a statewide record of 28 individuals.

Statewide counts resulted in several noteworthy developments.

The Ruffed Grouse decreased to just 51 individuals, the smallest number statewide since the 1960s when there were fewer counts and fewer observers. This decline doesn’t bode well for the state's official bird, which is considered among the most vulnerable species in Pennsylvania because of dwindling range and climate change.

On the other hand, the Wild Turkey rebounded from the previous decade, with a jump of almost 4,000 birds reported statewide.

The tally of Red-breasted Nuthatches fell 90 percent from the 1992 count. No one knows why.

Carolina Wrens set a near-record count of 5,671 birds. The figure could be a fluke because of the weather or it could be a harbinger of a change in the species' range.

Bald Eagles set a record of 464 individuals, with southern Lancaster County’s 53 birds the most reported in any area of the state. The volunteer efforts in previous Christmas Bird Counts demonstrated how Bald Eagles had become an endangered species. Congress passed strong legislation to save the national symbol from extinction, and today the population of Bald Eagles is on the rise in locations where it had disappeared just a few decades ago.

This year’s Christmas Bird Count could highlight changes in other species and help provide the documentation needed to enact conservation and land management efforts to keep species from extinction.


Guess which 10 backyard birds were seen most often last year!

A.  American Crow
B.  American Goldfinch
C.  American Robin
D.  Black-capped Chickadee
E.  Blue Jay
F.  Carolina Wren
G.  Cedar Waxwing
H.  Common Grackle
I.  Dark-eyed Junco
J.  Downy Woodpecker
K.  Eastern Bluebird
L.  European Starling
M.  House Finch
N.  House Sparrow
O.  Mourning Dove
P.  Northern Cardinal
Q.  Purple Finch
R.  Red-bellied Woodpecker
S.  Red-breasted Nuthatch
T.  Rock Pigeon
U.  Song Sparrow
V.  Tufted Titmouse
W.  White-breasted Nuthatch
X.  White-crowned Sparrow
Y.  White-throated Sparrow
Z.  Winter Wren

ANSWERS
(in order of frequency of sighting)

L, I, Y, A, O, P, U, N, E, M