By Liz Purves (Ontario Aerial Insectivore Program Manager) and Liza Barney (Education Program Coordinator), Bird Studies Canada
Western Kingbird Photo: Barbara Charlton
The 119th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season officially ended on 5 January 2019. Results are still coming in, but some highlights reported so far include a Western Kingbird seen during the Long Point count (a first for Ontario CBCs!) and surges in Eurasian Collared-Doves in the west (and even an appearance in Hamilton, ON).
The deadline to submit entries to our CBC and CBC4Kids photo contest is Thursday, January 31st, 2019! Send us your best shots of birds or people from the events for your chance to win great prizes. See the contest details.
Thank you to all the participants, compilers, and regional editors who continue to make the CBC a huge success in Canada. Each year, Christmas Bird Counters prove themselves to be the hardiest of birders – often battling the rain, snow, fog, or wind chill to count as many birds as they can find in their local area.
Special thanks are owed to the hundreds of volunteer compilers who spend countless hours organizing volunteers as well as summarizing and submitting results, and to the exceptional regional editors who review all the CBC results each season to ensure the highest quality data are used to track winter bird populations and distributions.
Check out the hashtag #ChristmasBirdCount on Twitter or Instagram to see a highlights reel of CBC moments shared by Citizen Scientists all over North America.
You can see how your CBC data are put to work by using Audubon’s CBC trends viewer. To check out current or historical CBC results by count, please visit the Audubon website.
Black-capped Chickadee Photo: Euan Aitken
The Christmas Bird Count for Kids (CBC4Kids)
The younger set of naturalists joined in the bird count fun this season through 68 CBC4Kids events across Canada! Watch the Bird Studies Canada blog for the 2018-19 summary and highlights, including the total number of species and top reported birds of the season.
