Help us monitor central Ohio’s winter birdlife in one of the longest-running volunteer censuses in the U.S.: the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The CBCs, as they’re affectionately called, are almost as anticipated by birders as are holiday meals and celebrations. They started in the early 1900s as an alternative to Christmas hunts, and in the 1960s the Audubon Society standardized them to single-day coverage of 15-mile diameter circles, so as to better compare bird numbers in different areas.
 
Here in central Ohio we’re blessed with multiple nearby CBCs, including:

How do these counts work? To use Columbus as an example, on the 15^th we’ll have teams of birdwatchers scouring the neighborhoods, parks, and wildlands of greater Columbus, looking for rarities and common birds alike. The Columbus count circle is centered just north of Bexley, so that it stretches from Griggs Reservoir on the west to Blacklick in the east, and from I-270 in the north to Groveport in the south. Different teams will bird in key parks and preserves within this circle, including Whetstone and the Olentangy Greenway, Antrim Lake and Beechwold, Griggs Reservoir Park and Quarry Trails, Greenlawn and Scioto Audubon Park, Blendon Woods, the Alum Creek Greenway,  Blacklick Woods, the Blacklick Creek Greenway, and Three Creeks Park.  Even with all these parks, much of the area is decidedly urban and suburban, although it was much less so when the count started back in the 1950s. Most of the other CBCs in the area are much more rural, so their teams might rarely run across other people during the morning.
 
We need you, and all your sharp-eyed friends, to help make these Counts go well. Counts usually do well by dividing up participants into teams that cover different areas, ranging from huge townships and parks down to compact neighborhoods. We need as many birders as we can recruit, since more eyes means fewer birds missed. You don’t need to be a good birder to help; most teams have lots of new birders that act as extra eyes and ears for the few experienced birders on the team.  So please plan to come out for the morning, or the whole day, or just keep an eye on your birdfeeders. For more details email me at [email protected], or any of the count organizers listed above.