| Southern Marin Christmas Bird Count | ||
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History Of CBC'S For those of you not familiar with Christmas bird counts, to quote from www.audubon.org/bird/cbc: "More than 50,000 observers participate each year in this all-day census of early-winter bird populations. The results of their efforts are compiled into the longest running database in ornithology. Simply put, the Christmas Bird Count, or "CBC", is citizen science in action. Up until the turn of the century, people commonly engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt". They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered quarry won. Conservation was in its beginning stages at the turn of the century, and many observers were becoming concerned about the indiscriminate slaughter of wildlife, and concurrent declines in bird populations. On Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman, an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society, called for an end to the slaughter. He suggested that, rather than shooting birds, people count them instead. So began the Christmas Bird Count." Southern Marin CBC The Southern Marin count circle is 15 miles in diameter and ranges from Terra Linda to Sausalito, and Bolinas to San Pablo Bay. Volunteers are assigned to 23 separate areas within this count circle and identify and record every individual bird within their area of this count circle. The compiler combines each area's total species and individual birds, and sends this on to National Audubon. To learn more about Christmas Bird Counts and to see specific data from all count circles, go to www.birdsource.org (click on BirdSource project, choose Christmas Bird Count; on the CBC web page choose Current Year or Historical Results—we are count circle CAMC). |
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By Area (data since 1978):
Alpine
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| Marin Audubon Society, Box 599, Mill Valley, California 94942-0599 | ||