Bird watchers carry on old tradition during New Year’s Day

LABETTE COUNTY, Kan. — For a group of local bird watchers, the first day of the new year is the perfect time to take part in an old tradition.

Members of the "Sperry-Galligar Audubon Society” in southeast Kansas set out at dawn on New Year’s Day to take part in a nation-wide program known as "The Christmas Bird Count.” Despite its name, the count can take place anywhere between mid-December and early January.

"We choose today because it's a day when everybody's off and it's a holiday. Some people watch football, some people would prefer to watch birds,” said Dr. Cindy Ford, a member of the Sperry-Galligar Audubon Society.

Groups of bird watching volunteers are divided up across several counties in southeast Kansas to not only look but listen for birds in the region.

"We just cover as much land as we can to identify what bird species are there, how many of those bird species, and then we turn that into Audubon and they compile all of that data,” said Delia Lister, a member of the Sperry-Galligar Audubon Society.

Those numbers are added to a national database, consisting of species of birds and population numbers across the U.S.

"We keep track of them so that through the years, we can see whether the populations rise or fall, and kind of come up with some oddities once in a while,” said Dr. Ford.

With help from volunteers, conservation biologists can determine how America’s birds are faring over time.

"It's a great way to get information and then of course have longevity that goes along with that, so you can see where the trends are through the years,” said Dr. Ford.

"Many bird species are declining, mostly due to habitat loss, but climate change is also a major problem. We need that data to tell us how we can better help birds,” said Lister.

Lister says getting people involved in citizen science is an important part of the National Audubon Society's annual bird count.