Join the Christmas Bird Count! Add your sightings to a 125-year tradition

In December, Seven Capes Bird Alliance is participating in National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC). For 125 years, bird enthusiasts nationwide have participated in the world's longest-running wildlife census to provide information that helps scientists protect birds and the places they need.

If you love bird watching in this rich coastal habitat, please join us! All experience levels are welcome. You can either join a team of field counters or, if you live within one of the count circles, you can count from your backyard! Either way, you need to preregister. Field counters should dress for Oregon coastal weather with mud boots or sturdy shoes. Bring your own optical equipment, lunch or snack, and plenty of water. If that sounds too strenuous, or you don't have the full day to spend, check out the maps to see if you live within a count circle to participate as a backyard/feeder counter—we’ll send you a checklist.

Teams are organizing in our region for the following days:

Downy Woodpecker, photo by Ruth Shelly

Begun in 1900 as an alternative to traditional Christmas Day bird hunts, hundreds of Christmas Bird Counts are now conducted throughout the Western Hemisphere. The CBC continues to contribute valuable scientific data to the longest existing record of bird population trends. This year, data will be sent to the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University where over the years CBC records have been used to study changes in bird populations and wintering ranges. In 2023, a record high number of participants recorded more than 2,300 bird species across North and South America, and Pacific and Caribbean islands. 

The Christmas Bird Count is free, fun, and makes a difference! See sevencapes.org/christmas-bird-count for maps of the Count Circles and registration information.