Squamish birders help with world's longest-running citizen science project

Squamish is well known for its annual Eagle Count. Less known is our contribution to another winter bird count and the longest-running citizen science project in the world: the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

The CBC was borne from a bloody Christmas tradition called the “Side Hunt,” where teams of hunters competed to kill as many birds and mammals in one day as possible. In 1900, with bird populations already in decline, an ornithologist from the Audubon Society suggested that birds be counted, not killed. 

Thus began the first Christmas Bird Count in the U.S. and Canada.

In modern times, on any day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, thousands of volunteers from more than 2,000 locations throughout the Americas count as many birds as they can within fixed geographic “count circles.” 

Squamish birders joined the count in 1980 and have participated every year since.

Marcia Danielson has been co-ordinating the Squamish count for 20 years, rounding up volunteers to brave the elements and count birds from dawn to dusk. She recalls many highlights over the years, including spotting four different types of owls on a count almost cancelled because of gale-force winds. 

While volunteers look forward to these rare moments, the total numbers gathered from counting all the birds contribute to one of the most extensive sets of wildlife survey data in the world.

Such long-running data has helped scientists monitor the abundance and diversity of bird species in the Western Hemisphere and track population trends over the years. This information has helped focus conservation resources to protect more vulnerable species and can also predict how climate change might affect the ranges of birds in the future.  

This year, Marcia will step down from her role as CBC co-ordinator. We want to thank her for all her hard work and we hope there are others who will take over to continue the CBC in Squamish for at least another 43 years! 

Visit Birds Canada for more information about the Christmas Bird Count, or to volunteer locally, go to the Squamish Environment Society website. 

Alison Wald is a director with the Squamish Environment Society.