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Birds by the Numbers
Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: December 2024
Literally a canary in the coalmine, the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, set for 7:30 A.M. Friday, December 20, in Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park, provides a dramatic snapshot of the birds here on the Plateau.
The Highlands Plateau Audubon Society is staging its annual Christmas Bird Count, and you’re invited. Participants will team up to record both the number of species and individual birds spotted. For more details, visit highlandsaudubonsociety.org.
“The birds of North America are continuously watched, carefully monitored and repeatedly counted,” explains Laurel Contributor/Philosopher Dr. William McReynolds. “An international bird count, The Audubon Christmas Bird Count typically has involved over 2,400 counting groups and 60,000 individuals who in years past achieved totals of 70 million birds sighted in the U.S., Canada and some parts of Latin American and the Caribbean.
“These large-scale, yearly bird counts are used to specify winter bird populations and distributions in North America, both of which are changing with ongoing climate change. Data from this massive citizen’s science initiative are being used to monitor the health of our avian populations and guide conservation efforts.”
Among the most frequently sighted winter species here on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau are Carolina Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco and Mallards. The number of species and total number of birds sighted each year vary as a function of the number of observers and weather conditions. When combined with the thousands of other counting groups across the continent and over many years, a clear picture of changes in our bird population emerges.
“Of the 604 species closely examined, 85 percent of all North American species, 389, two thirds, were found to be in decline and vulnerable to extinction,” says Dr. McReynolds. “A second, far ranging effort by scientists with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found cumulative loss of nearly three billion birds since 1970 – 29 percent of North American birds have vanished in the last 50 years according to this comprehensive, peer reviewed research.
“The collection of living creatures on this planet is our greatest natural heritage and the fabric of life that sustains us all.”
