Christmas is coming. Let’s count birds!
Every year Christmas Bird Counts are conducted in the Americas from December 14 through January 5. The counts take place in 15-mile diameter circles where birders count every bird they see during the 24-hour period. (We count owls at night.)
It’s easy to participate. Choose a location and date that suits you on this map at audubon.org. Then get in touch with the Count coordinator ahead of time to make sure you aren’t double-counting someone else’s territory. If you live within a count circle you can count birds at your feeder — but contact the coordinator in advance.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, there are 13 Count circles as shown on this screen shot from the audubon.org map.
The Pittsburgh Christmas Bird Count, code PAPI above, includes Downtown Pittsburgh and parts of our three rivers. It’s always held on the 1st Saturday after Christmas — December 30 this year (2017) — and has so many participants that compiler Brian Shema coordinates the coordinators. Click here on the ASWP website for information on who to call.
Visit National Audubon’s Join the Christmas Bird Count for counts outside our area or consult the table below for the 13 circles nearby.
As you can see there are still some gaps in the data as of today (11/26/2017). I’ll update the table as information becomes available so check back later if your favorite location has no date yet.
| Count Name | Code | County (general area) | Date | Coordinator | Contact Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaver | PABV | Beaver | Sat Dec 16 | Rick Mason | richarddmason AT gmail.com (724)847-0909 |
| Buffalo Creek | PABK | Washington | Sun Dec 17 | Larry Helgerman | bobolink1989 AT gmail.com |
| Buffalo Creek Valley | PABC | Butler, Armstrong | Sat Dec 16 | George Reese | g.reese@gaiconsultants.com, 724-353-9649 |
| Bushy Run | PABR | Westmoreland | Sun Dec 31 | Dick Byers | otusasio AT lhtot.com 724-593-3543 |
| Butler | PABU | Butler, Lawrence, Mercer | Sat Dec 16 | Glenn Koppel Mary A Koeneke | kestrel22 AT hotmail.com 703-203-3362 macatilly AT icloud.com 703-203-6337 |
| Clarksville | PACL | Greene | Sat Dec 23 | Terry Dayton | tdayton AT windstream.net 724-998-7099 |
| Imperial | PAIM | Allegheny, Washington | ? | Bob Mulvihill | robert.mulvihill AT aviary.org |
| Indiana | PAIN | Indiana | Tue Dec 26 | Roger & Marg Higbee | 724-354-3493 412-309-3538 bcoriole AT windstream.net rvhigbee AT windstream.net |
| Pittsburgh | PAPI | Allegheny | Sat Dec 30 | Brian Shema, ASWP | http://www.aswp.org/pages/christmas-bird-count bshema AT aswp.org |
| Pittsburgh South Hills | PASH | Allegheny | Sat Dec 16 | Gigi Gerben | birdersx5 AT gmail.com |
| Rector | PART | Westmoreland | Sun Dec 17 | Matt Webb | webbm AT carnegiemnh.org 412-622-5591 |
| Ryerson | PARY | Greene | Sat Dec 16 | Marjorie Howard | birdwatcher108 AT comcast.net 724-852-3155 |
| South Butler | PAST | Butler | Sat Jan 6, 2018 (1 day after the official Count ends) | Chris Kubiak | ckubiak@aswp.org 412-963-6100 |
| Washington | PAWS | Washington | Sat Dec 16 | Thomas Contreras | tcontreras AT washjeff.edu 724-223-6118 (or 724-413-2310) |
(photo by George Gentry/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; click on the image to see the original; map of Western PA Christmas Bird Count circles posted by Bob Mulvihill of the National Aviary; map of the Pittsburgh Christmas Count circle from audubon.org)
Spoke with Brian yesterday at length with the programs offered and it struck my interest on the 16 week course for the Birder certificate . I spent some time browsing on the site and became lost in it all its a great tool but I just haven’t been able to find the class we spoke of at the BFNR on 1/25/18 around noon, Brian checked to see if you were available but you were tied up on a phone call. Could you give me some info on the classes. Thank-you Mike Lang
Mike Lang, I think you meant your message for someone else. I was in a grocery store in Chico, California at noon on 1/25/2018.