SHERIDAN — Members of the Bighorn Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count tallied nearly 10,000 individual birds, spanning 97 different species, during the count last month.
The National Audubon Society, an organization dedicated to protecting birds and the climates they rely on, has mounted its annual Christmas Bird Count since 1900, according to the society’s website. Volunteer counters set out to tally every single bird they see, and individual counts take place in communities across the U.S. each year from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5.
Every year since the early 1970s, the Bighorn Audubon Society has organized two bird counts in Sheridan County, one in Sheridan and the other in the Big Horn and Story area. As a result, the Bighorn Audubon Society now has about 50 years of data on which birds spend the winter in Sheridan County.
During the count, teams of two to six volunteers spend about eight hours in the field, identifying species and counting birds, said Story-Big Horn count data compiler Ariel Downing.
The goal of the count, explained Annie Dunn, compiler of the Sheridan Christmas Bird Count, is to establish a consistent, reliable set of bird location data over time. Tracking the movement of birds over time, Dunn said, can offer insights into the health of our environment and local food and water resources.
“Birds are well known biological indicators of changes in our community’s environmental health,” said JoAnne Puckett of the Bighorn Audubon Society.
To capture a consistent set of data, Dunn said each count takes place in the same 15 mile radius, divided into the same sectors, every year. Specific route instructions guide counters through their sectors and ensure they adhere to the same route every year, Dunn said.
After the count is completed, compilers like Dunn and Downing send their count’s results to the National Audubon Society, which generates a report on bird population health around the country.
“[The count is a] huge citizen science project,” Dunn said.
Downing is descended from Story-Big Horn Christmas Bird Count royalty. Downing said her mother, an avid birder, started the Story-Big Horn count with two friends in 1973. There needed to be a count between Sheridan and Buffalo, the original Story-Big Horn counters decided, because the count’s 15 mile radius ensured birds in southern Sheridan were not tallied. The Story-Big Horn count has been going strong every year since, and Downing eventually signed up to compile it’s data.
This winter, Downing reported 27 people participated in the count Dec. 30, a brisk relatively windless day. The counters spotted a total of 3,651 birds, comprising 50 species, totals similar to Story-Big Horn’s 2020 total.
Participants did not report seeing any Canada Geese and saw fewer owls than usual, both of which surprised Downing. Five years earlier, Downing said, count participants tallied over 8,000 Canada Geese flying south for the winter. However, the Story-Big Horn count was also treated to a handful of spring and summer birds, including a Redwing Blackbird, Meadowlark and American Robin.
The Sheridan Christmas Bird Count also resulted in a few surprises this year, Dunn said.
In contrast to Downing, Dunn got involved in Sheridan’s birdwatching community relatively recently. In 2017, after developing her birdwatching skills at the Bighorn Audubon Society’s monthly Birding at The Brinton events, Dunn participated in the count for the first time. The next year, she became a count compiler.
During his season’s Sheridan Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 18, 2021, Dunn said volunteers spotted 6,283 birds from 47 different species, which is consistent with last year’s totals. Dunn said counters observed four species of birds not represented in the count for over three years, including Common Redpolls, Horned Larks, Loggerhead Shrikes and Evening Grosbeaks.
Dunn said she appreciated the volunteers willing to brave the bitterly cold weather on count day.
“We are fortunate to have a committed group of people,” Dunn said.
After some checks by a regional editor, data from the Story-Big Horn and Sheridan Christmas Bird Counts will be incorporated into the National Audubon Society’s count reports later this year.
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Bighorn Audubon's Christmas Bird Count systematically tallies local birds - The Sheridan Press
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