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Calling all birders - come out for the 109th Christmas Bird Count - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

Calling all birders - come out for the 109th Christmas Bird Count

Dec 15th, 2008 3:42 AM

Media Release - For Immediate Release Calling all birders! Come out for the 109th Christmas Bird Count Toronto, December 10, 2008 – Between December 14 and January 5, 2009, thousands of expert and amateur birders will participate in the 109th annual Christmas Bird Count, a well-established tradition for naturalists across the continent. This year, more than 40 Ontario Nature member groups are leading bird counts in communities as far north as Thunder Bay, to Holiday Beach in the south, and Kingston and the Ottawa area to the east. The Christmas Bird Count started out as the Christmas Bird Census led by American ornithologist Frank Chapman as an alternative to the then-popular “side hunt” in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals as a Christmas day activity. Chapman’s suggestion that birds be counted instead of shot changed the course of ornithological history with the founding of what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen science-based conservation effort. Bird Studies Canada coordinates the count in Canada in a joint program with the National Audubon Society. Counts are open to birders of all skill levels. The data is used by Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the National Audubon Society to monitor the status of all bird species across the western hemisphere. Today, more than 2,000 individual counts are scheduled to take place throughout the Americas, and more than 100 counts will occur in Ontario alone. Says Caroline Schultz, Executive Director of Ontario Nature, “The Christmas Bird Count is great fun yet at the same time provides very valuable scientific data. Ontario Nature was founded by a small group of enthusiastic nature clubs with a keen interest in the welfare of birds, so supporting this kind of citizen science is an inherent part of what we do.” During last year’s Christmas Bird Count, nearly 58,000 volunteers across North America tallied some 70 million birds. This year’s Christmas Bird Count is expected to be even larger. For a full list of the Ontario Nature member groups that are holding bird counts and when, please visit the Nature Network on our website, www.ontarionature.org. Quick facts: • In 2007, 11,565 participants in Canada counted more than 3.2 million birds in a record-high 371 counts. • Biologists around the world use the data collected from the counts to monitor the populations and distribution of North American birds. Some of it has been used as key evidence for serious declines: Christmas Bird Count data provided pivotal information in the decision to list the Newfoundland red crossbill and the rusty blackbird under the federal Species at Risk Act. • More than 55,000 volunteers from all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies and Pacific Islands, count and record every individual bird and bird species seen in a specified area. • In recent years, Christmas Bird Counts have revealed declines in northern shrikes and Harris’s sparrow (both by nearly 2% a year). These results help prioritize Canada’s bird conservation activities. Christmas bird counts will occur in the following locations: Friends of Rondeau - Blenheim/Rondeau Guelph Field Naturalists - Guelph Kingston Field Naturalists - Kingston Kitchener Waterloo Field Naturalists - Cambridge Macnamara Field Naturalists' Club - Pakenham-Arnprior Muskoka Field Naturalists - Gravenhurst-Bracebridge Nipissing Naturalists - North Bay Peninsula Field Naturalists - St. Catharines Peterborough Field Naturalists - Peterborough South Peel Naturalists' Club - Oakville-Mississauga Toronto Ornithological Club - Toronto Kingston Field Naturalists - Delta Penokean Hills Field Naturalists - Elliot Lake Kingston Field Naturalists - Westport Bancroft Field Naturalist Club - Bancroft Kingston Field Naturalists - Prince Edward Point Kitchener Waterloo Field Naturalists - Kitchener Lambton Wildlife Inc./Friends of Pinery Park - Pinery Provincial Park McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London - London and area Manitoulin Nature Club - Manitoulin Pembroke Area Field Naturalists - Pembroke Richmond Hill Naturalists - Richmond Hill South Lake Simcoe Naturalists - Sutton Willow Beach Field Naturalists - Port Hope/Cobourg Woodstock Field Naturalists - Woodstock Durham Region Field Naturalists - Durham Region Hamilton Naturalists Club - Hamilton St Thomas Field Naturalist Club - Eastern and Central Elgin County Thunder Bay Field Naturalists - Thunder Bay Halton/North Peel - North Halton Kingston Field Naturalists - Thousand Islands Kitchener Waterloo Field Naturalists - Linwood (NW of Waterloo) Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists - Carleton Place Stratford Field Naturalists - Stratford Ingersoll District Nature Club - Lawson Nature Reserve Rideau Valley Field Naturalists - Rideau Ferry Huron Fringe Field Naturalists - Kincardine Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists - Lanark Highlands Kingston Field Naturalists - Amherst Island Upper Credit Field Naturalists - Caledon/Orangeville Saugeen Shores - Saugeen Shores York Simcoe Naturalists - Bradford - 30 - For more information, please contact: Caroline Shultz, Executive Director, Ontario Nature Office: (416) 444-8419 ext. 237 Cell: (416) 768-9795 Email: carolines@ontarionature.org Victoria Foote, Director of Communications, Ontario Nature Office: (416) 444-8419 ext. 238 Cell: (647)290-9384 Email: victoriaf@ontarionature.org Ontario Nature protects wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. It connects thousands of individuals and communities with nature through conservation groups across the province (charitable registration #10737 8952 RR0001). For more information, visit www.ontarionature.org.