Hunger Mountain Winter Bird Count is on for Dec. 26

By Dec. 16, 2022  |  Zacheriah Cota-Weaver

Cedar waxwings photographed in February by Gordon Miller

Each winter, birdwatchers across the Americas don their binoculars to scour their hometowns,  documenting and enjoying resident winter birds. This annual tradition, over a century old, has become a powerful tool for understanding the changes in bird populations over time.

The Christmas Bird Count (now called the Winter Bird Count) was created as a peaceful alternative to a traditional yuletide hunt wherein teams competed to kill the most animals in an afternoon. In response to this tradition, founder Frank Chapman announced “a new kind of Christmas side hunt in the form of a Christmas bird census.”

Now 123 years later, more than 60,000 volunteers participate in this census annually, contributing to the world’s longest-running community science project. The Winter Bird Count has contributed to hundreds of scientific publications and is considered one of the 24 major indicators of climate impacts by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The count is now managed by the National Audubon Society with individual counts taking place in a three-week period between Dec. 14 and Jan. 4 each year. This year, the Hunger Mountain Winter Bird Count will take place in the Waterbury-Stowe area on Monday, Dec. 26.

You can help by keeping your bird feeders full over the coming weeks, particularly on Monday, Dec. 26. Birders will be surveying the area throughout that day, so if you see volunteers with binoculars searching for birds, give them a friendly wave! 

If you’d like to learn more about the count or how to sign up to help, visit Audubon.org online or email zcotaweaver@gmail.com.

Zac Cota is the coordinator of the Hunger Mountain Winter Bird Count.