On Sunday January 4th, teams of volunteers armed with binoculars and clip boards conducted a census of Salem County’s bird population for the National Audubon Society. Caravans of cars parked along the road nearby local bird watching hotspots to gather and record how many birds and of what species could be seen and heard. After a long cold day, the results were compiled and are to be analyzed and used to assess the health of bird populations plus guide conservation action.
Originally, the tradition began as a sport hunt with guns and bird dogs. Concern over the negative impact to the songbird population led ornithologist Frank M. Chapman to suggest that they should simply count the birds rather than shoot them for sport. The first humane bird count was done on Christmas Day in 1900.
According to its website, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count is the nation’s longest-running community science bird project which fuels Audubon’s work throughout the year. The annual event occurs across the entire United States between December 14th and January 5th. Without volunteers’ efforts during the annual Bird Count much about the health and diversity of local bird species would go unfound especially in Salem County.
We’d like to thank all of those who volunteered during the Christmas Bird Count this year as well as the National Audubon Society. See more about the organization’s annual event via its website at: https://www.audubon.org/community…/christmas-bird-count
