Counting birds at Christmastime

Jan 12, 2012

by Steve Blight

About 20 years or so ago, my wife and I took part in our first Christmas bird count. We were assigned an area within the urban boundary of Ottawa, and when the big day dawned, clear and cold, we pulled on our warmest boots and headed out to find some birds.

This year, we thought we might try it again, but we wanted to do it closer to our cottage on Bobs Lake. The Westport Christmas Bird Count turned out to be the closest one, so we signed up with coordinator Wendy Briggs-Jude, who was happy to have a couple of extra pairs of eyes and ears on the job.

Christmas bird counts go back to 1900, when American ornithologist Frank Chapman asked birders across North America to head out on Christmas Day to count the birds in their home towns and submit the results as the first "Christmas Bird Census." The Christmas Bird Count, as it is now called, is conducted in over 2000 localities across Canada, the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These bird observations have been gathered together into a huge database that reflects the distribution and numbers of winter birds over time.

These days Christmas Bird Counts are conducted on any one day between December 14 and January 5. They are carried out within a 24-km diameter circle that stays the same from year to year. They are usually group events organized at the local level, usually by a birding club, naturalists’ organization or simply an enthusiastic group of volunteers.

On the chosen day, teams have 24 hours to go out and identify and count every bird they see in their assigned sector of the circle. At the end of the day, the numbers from all the sectors are compiled, and this information is submitted to Bird Studies Canada, the sponsoring organization in Canada. This data has proven very useful, as it is used to help scientists to better understand important things like bird distribution and movements and population trends over time.

Our big day was Tuesday, December 20. Maps, guidebooks and binoculars in hand, we drove the highways and byways between Westport and Bolingbroke in search of birds. The weather was cold and clear, but with no trace of snow on the ground. The first bird we saw was a crow by the side of the road – perhaps not the rarest bird in the world, but symbolically important as the first tick on our tally sheet.

Next up came several Black-capped Chickadees flitting around a feeder near a house on Althorpe Road, followed by a couple of Blue Jays and several House Sparrows. In short order we added Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers to our list, along with American Goldfinches. Up and down the roads we went, stopping at prospective groves of pines or near feeders to scan the trees and fields or to listen for new birds. All told we spent about 5½ hours on the road, drove about 100 km, and racked up a total just shy of 300 birds of 17 different species. Our highlights were the single Rough-legged Hawk perched in a tree beside Mountain Road and 20 Pine Siskins flying overhead on Porter Road. Top spot in terms of numbers went to the 102 chickadees that we counted, with second place going to the 60 Canada Geese we saw in the open water off the Lion’s Club Beach on Westport Sand Lake.

When our day was over, several teams gathered at the Briggs-Judes house to hand in our numbers, compare notes and enjoy a lovely meal of chili and fresh home-made bread. When Wendy added up all the numbers, the total for the Westport count was 51 species and almost 7000 individual birds, with top spot going to Common Mergansers, at almost 2000 birds.

As my wife and I drove home after the day was over we reflected on how fast the day had gone by and how much fun we had had. We made a firm decision that we would not be waiting another 20 years to do our next Christmas Bird Count.

We are thinking about reviving a Christmas Bird Count in the Sharbot Lake area in 2012. We’ve tentatively set aside Saturday, December 29, 2012 as the possible date for the count – details to come. Novice birders are welcome. Anyone interested in volunteering, please contact Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.