Christmas bird count helps identify conservation priorities

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December 28, 2006

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Thu Dec 28, 2006, 11:44 PM CST

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

“Look! It’s a hawk. No, it’s a buzzard. I’m not sure what it is,” said 12-year-old Cole McAlester, struggling to get his binoculars into position to see what was soaring over his head.

Looking into the blue sky at sunrise, it was difficult for the boy to determine what was aloft. But the bird’s wings and tail feathers created a specific silhouette. The wings were too long and narrow to belong to either a hawk or a buzzard.

“I think it’s an immature bald eagle,” said Charlie Burwick, a seasoned bird-watcher. “It’s a young one, maybe 3 years old.”

Cole and Burwick were standing among tall pines in the Walter Woods Conservation Area south of Joplin. They were hoping to spot elusive pine warblers in the treetops, but instead they spotted an eagle.

Seeing a bird they didn’t expect is part of the excitement of the annual Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society. Now in its 107th year, the program utilizes thousands of volunteer bird-watchers from the Alaskan Arctic to the southern tip of South America to count and identify as many birds as possible.

“It’s the oldest database of birds in the world,” said Burwick, of rural Springfield.

The information is used by ornithologists to examine changes in bird populations, migration patterns and species diversity. The bird counts, which can be influenced by habitat destruction and climate change, help set conservation priorities. Recent counts suggest that migrating birds are staying longer before they make their annual flights south to warmer weather.

The eagle wasn’t the only unusual bird that Cole and Burwick spotted Thursday. Burwick, imitating the call of a barred owl, heard what he thought was a return call.

Minutes later, a barred owl peeled away from an oak tree and glided silently through the woods.

Other birds they identified were white-breasted nuthatches, bluebirds, a yellow-shafted flicker, a downy woodpecker and rusty blackbirds.

Birds large and small were counted by the team, one of eight to participate in the early winter bird census organized by the Ozark Gateway Audubon Society. The teams counted birds in a circular area that was 15 miles across. Most teams coupled seasoned birders with those who are new to the task.

Another team that surveyed Wildcat Park, home of the new nature center that is under construction, may have had the most important sightings of the day.

Tony Robyn, director of the center, said: “We saw four bald eagles. Two were in Wildcat Park, and the others were on the east side of the Redings Mill bridge. We saw one bald eagle last fall in Wildcat Park and one there the year before.

“We also saw five black turkey vultures, circling overhead above the bridge. We had the first sighting of black turkey vultures in southeastern Kansas three years ago. This bird is not normally seen this far north.” Red-headed vultures, also known as turkey buzzards, are common in this part of the country.

“This is exactly what the bird count is about — to look at these trends,” Robyn said. “We have seen black turkey vultures in two of the last three years. Perhaps their range may be expanding to the north.”

Teams circulate within their assigned areas, visiting different habitats that might attract specific types of birds.

By the end of the day, Robyn said, the count should have identified 80 to 100 different species.

Holiday tradition

Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman, an early officer in the fledgling Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition: a Christmas bird census. Instead of birds being hunted for the holidays, they would be counted.

Twenty-seven bird-watchers participated in the first count. Locations ranged from Toronto, Canada, to Pacific Grove, Calif. The original counters tallied 90 species.

This year, about 50,000 people will participate in the count.

Source: National Audubon Society