By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

SCAMMON, Kan. — Before dawn on the first day of the new year, a dozen bird enthusiasts have gathered at the Scammon Express Lane, eager for sunrise.

Hunkered over cups of steaming coffee in a booth marked with a small sign, “Reserved for birders,” they chatted amiably about weather conditions and fondly remembered species they had sighted in the past.

The “birders’’ have gathered here annually for the past 22 years for more than just idle talk. They are among an estimated 500,000 birders across the nation who dedicate a day to counting birds.

Called the Christmas Bird Count, it is a tradition that dates back 100 years.

Citizen science

Before 1900, people often engaged in a holiday tradition known as the “Christmas Side Hunt,” in which they would choose sides and go afield with guns. Whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered and furry quarry won, according to historical reports.

No hunting limits existed, nor were hunters required to purchase stamps, permits, licenses, and the like — anything that moved was game. But around the turn of the 20th century, conservation was in its beginning stages and there was concern about declining bird populations.

According to the Audubon Society, beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed a new holiday tradition: A Christmas Bird Census to replace the hunt.

Every year since, bird enthusiasts have participated in this citizen-science program to conduct a bird census in early winter, helping researchers plot population trends, distribution and migratory patterns.

Audubon officials say the information is vital for conservation: Both long-term and short-term local trends in bird populations can point to an environmental threat like groundwater contamination or improper use of pesticides.

For Pittsburg birders Liz Mangile and Mavis Benner, it’s a chance to enjoy nature with like-minded individuals.

For others, like Iowa resident Jeff Nichols, it’s a chance to spot a species that they mentally file away, much like sports enthusiasts do with game statistics. He is so enthused that Thursday’s count was the seventh of eight in the region he will participate in this year.

“I searched the Internet to find this one,” he said before heading out.