Growth of the Count
From that small beginning, Christmas Bird Counts have become an
exceedingly popular activity, involving thousands of persons. Now, over
1700 North American counts are published each year by the National
Audubon Society (700 Broadway, New York, NY 10003), and a good many more
appear only in local journals, such as the N. B. Naturalist / Le
Naturaliste du N.-B. As it grew, the Christmas Bird Count became more
formalized, with various rules being set, such as 15-mile diameter
circles, minimum 8-hour counts, count periods, and tallies of
party-hours and party-miles of effort.
The counts now provide not only a sporting pastime for the
participants, but a great amount of data about the early winter birdlife
of this continent - data which illustrates the changing distribution and
abundance of birds and, indirectly, of the health of our environment. A
count is a day of fun and exploration outdoors, of enjoying nature, of
companionship and sharing with others. It may involve friendly rivalry
– competition between friends or between counts - but the principal
objective is to cover a standard area, a 24-km-diameter circle, as
completely as possible, tallying all the birds encountered, on one day
during a period set each year by the Audubon Society.
Usually, the circle is divided into sectors, each covered by a party
of one or more observers. Often, there are also people reporting the
birds they see at their bird feeders or around their home. At the end of
the day, sometimes at a potluck supper attended by many of the
participants, the results from each party and feeder are combined to
give totals for the whole area. Care is taken to avoid duplication,
where the same birds may have been counted by more than one group. When
the results are brought together with those of surrounding areas, there
is a big enough sample to allow year to year and region to region
comparisons for many species.
The Christmas Bird Count
in New
Brunswick
One might have expected William Moore and others to have followed up
the good, early start in New Brunswick, but such was not the case.
Although the name Christmas Census was applied to some reports in 1908
and 1924, by involving more than one day they cannot be considered
normal counts. The second actual Christmas Count [the first one similar
to today's counts] in New Brunswick did not take place until 1937, at
Kent Island off Grand Manan. From the mid 1940's through the early
1950's there were sporadic counts at a few places in the southern half
of the province. From 1956 through the 1960's, encouraged by the late W.
A. Squires through his provincial museum newsletter, Nature News,
counts were conducted annually in an increasing number of New Brunswick
areas. Now, in the late-1990's, about 1000 participants spend 1500 hours
afield, travel about 13,000 km and report from nearly 500 bird feeders
in 45 areas of the province. Usually, they find a total of from 120,000
to 140,000 birds of about 125 species. Over the years, 210 species have
been reported on count day by New Brunswick Christmas Counts with an
additional 15 found during the count period.
Winter is a difficult time for birds in New Brunswick. The weather is
often severe and the food supply limited. Most insect-eating birds and
many waterbirds migrate south to milder climates. Those that remain with
us or come here from farther north are hardy birds able to withstand
cold temperatures, if they can obtain enough food. Our winter birds
survive by feeding on fishes, molluscs, seeds, fruits, the dormant
stages of insects, or small mammals and birds.
During winter, the variety of birds in most habitats of New Brunswick
is small. However, their numbers vary considerably from year to year; if
a particular food, for instance spruce seeds, is in good supply certain
species may be numerous. (That was the case in the winter of 1998- 1999.)
Urban/suburban areas with lots of trees, shrubs, and bird feeders, and
mixed and coniferous forests offer the best inland birding at this
season.
Fresh water and the sea along the northern and eastern coast of the
province are mostly frozen except where there are strong currents or
warm water discharge from an industrial plant. The Bay of Fundy remains
unfrozen, except for loose, shifting ice floes in its upper reaches. The
outer bay has varied populations of waterbirds in winter, but elsewhere
interesting locations are few and variety and numbers small.
The ten most numerous land birds recorded on Christmas Bird Counts in
New Brunswick from 1991 through 1995 were: European Starling,
Black-capped Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, Common Redpoll, Rock Dove,
Snow Bunting, American Crow, American Goldfinch, Mourning Dove and Blue
Jay. Numbers of Snow Buntings and especially of Common Redpolls vary
greatly from year to year. In fact redpolls often will not be among the
ten most common and Tree Sparrow will. Of these birds, only Black-capped
Chickadee and Blue Jay are likely to be reported on almost every count,
as is the less numerous Common Raven.
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The totals counted are usually higher than any other species
in New Brunswick
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(photo: David Christie)
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Among water birds, the ten top species were: Herring Gull, Great
Black-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Common Eider, American Black
Duck, Oldsquaw, Common Goldeneye, Iceland Gull, Mallard and Razorbill.
Over the years, New Brunswick counts have revealed population changes in
many species. Mainly there are annual fluctuations of moderate
proportions, but some species, especially the finches, exhibit periods
of scarcity punctuated by "invasion" years, when they are much
more numerous than usual. Long-term increases or declines of certain
species may be apparent to birdwatchers, but the Christmas Bird Count
permits a numerical expression of these changes and suggests less
obvious trends that we might otherwise overlook.
In New Brunswick Christmas Counts the most conspicuous changes have
been a four-fold increase in Evening Grosbeaks during 1960-85 and of
Bald Eagles since 1985 and the appearance and subsequent considerable
increase of Mallards and Mourning Doves since the mid-1960's, and of
House Finches since the late 1980s. On the other side of the coin, a few
Gray Partridge were seen regularly 1960-68 but only once since. Smaller
changes are indicated for Blue Jay (70% increase 1960-72), Common Raven
(50% increase 1960-72, 25% decline 1972-85), Black-capped Chickadee (50%
increase since 1985), Boreal Chickadee (65% decline 1975-85), and House
Sparrow (70% decline since 1985).
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(photo: Mary Majka)
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Birders scanning the mouth of Letete Passage at Greens Point in the
Blacks Harbour count area
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And so it is, that this Christmas season, we will once again follow
Frank Chapman's suggestion to "hie [us] to the fields and
woods" to "spend a day with the birds" and report our
results. Snow, rain, high winds, or bitter cold won't stop us; buoyed by
the birdwatcher's perpetual hope of making a discovery, we'll be
continuing a long tradition!
o
natural history project is as well-known to so many people in North
America as is the Christmas Bird Count. A lot of people know only that
it is an annual activity of birdwatchers, but many thousands are very
familiar with what's involved because they have taken part in this
ninety-nine year-old project. 
