Birders in Belize have the opportunity to observe hundreds of different species of birds, and it is not uncommon to view 50 in a single outing. Belize has recorded over 500 species of birds within its borders and many of the migratory birds that flock to Belize are accounted for during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.

Press Release - National Audubon Society – October 31st, 2005 – From December 14th, 2005 to January 5th, 2006, the National Audubon Society’s longestrunning wintertime tradition, the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), will take place throughout the Americas. During the 106th CBC, approximately 55,000 volunteers of all skill levels are expected to take part in this census of birds. “Having fun while birding can identify important results that help shape the direction of bird conservation,” says Geoff LeBaron, National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count director. “Audubon and our partners at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the Boreal Species Initiative are analyzing data from the overall CBC database, and using the results they find to develop Audubon’s ‘State of the Birds’ report. These important results will be reflected in 2006 in our ‘State of the Birds’ waterbirds report, and inform the Audubon WatchList, which is used to prioritize Audubon’s bird conservation activities.”

The CBC began over a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history. On Christmas Day in 1900, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals. Instead, Chapman proposed to identify, count, and record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort – and what has become a more than century-old institution.

Today, in Audubon’s centennial year (making the CBC five years older than Audubon!), participants from all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies, and Pacific Islands, will count and record every individual bird and bird species seen in a specified area.

Audubon is celebrating its centennial year of protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Birds such as the pigeon pictured above add to the great diversity of our wildlife, and must be protected.

During the 105th season, about 70 million birds were counted. Thanks in part to Bird Studies Canada, a leading notfor- profit conservation organization that is the Canadian partner for the CBC, last year saw a record high yet again: 2,022 individual counts. Each count group completes a census of the birds found during one 24-hour period between December 14 and January 5 in a designated circle 15 miles in diameter – about 177 square miles.

The 106th CBC is larger than ever, expanding its geographical range and accumulating information about the winter distributions of various birds. The CBC is vital in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds across the Western Hemisphere, and the data, which is 100% volunteer generated, have become a crucial part of the U.S. Government’s natural history monitoring database. Articles published in the 104th and 105th CBC issues of American Birds define new methods of analyses of large citizen-science data sets, with relevance to other programs beyond the CBC.

Count results from 1900 to the present are available through Audubon’s website www.audubon.org/bird/cbc. Included in those results is the last report of the Ivorybilled Woodpecker in the CBC database – two birds that were seen in the Singer Tract in Louisiana during the 38th CBC in 1937. Other sightings were reported earlier in the 1930s.

“Over five human generations, the CBC has evolved into a powerful and important tool, one probably inconceivable to any of the 27 participants on the first Christmas Bird Count,” said LeBaron. “With continually growing environmental pressures, the value of the current data might even exceed the imagination of today’s participants.” CBC compilers enter their count data via Audubon’s website at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc or through Bird Studies Canada’s homepage at www.bsc-eoc.org, where the 106th Count results will be viewable in near real-time. Explore this information for the winter of 2005- 2006 or visit a count from the past. See if and how the state of your local birds has changed during the last 25...50...or 100 years.

Audubon is celebrating its centennial year of protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitat that supports them. Our national network of community- based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.