Christmas Bird Count
When
Saturday, Dec 15, 2012
Where
Various Locations throughout Staten Island (map)
In conjunction with the National Audubon Society, members of the Staten Island Museum’s Section of Natural History will again venture forth, no matter what the weather, in an attempt to county every bird on Staten Island. Organized teams will go tot designated areas during the day/night to count birds, and meet at the Museum later that night for the round-up and tally of results.
For further details on participation, call Ed Johnson at 718.483.7110.
Each year, The Audubon Society holds a Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in which bird watchers throughout the country volunteer to count birds in a specified area, setting out at dawn and closing their notebooks at dusk. This year in the Bronx, birders will bring their binoculars to The New York Botanical Garden, Van Cortlandt Park, Pelham Bay Park, City Island, Bronx Park East and other local parks and coastal areas. Based on the counts they come up with for each bird species seen, tallies will be pooled to represent each of the five boroughs.
The purpose of the final count determines the climate of the bird population, as species representation can fluctuate due to disease, weather, habitat destruction, and food supply. At the NYBG in particular, there have been some remarkable numbers observed in the last 10 years. For example, the population of American Crows at the Garden was once counted at over 500. Today, we are lucky to see just one or two. This is owed to the arrival of the West Nile Virus, which has decimated crow populations in our area.
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