Nature Moncton’s 62nd Christmas Birdfeeder Count (CBC)
Saturday, December 17, 2022    

Greetings to all birder enthusiasts who live in the Greater Moncton area. Do you enjoy watching birds at your feeders? By supplementing the food supply of our winged friends during the winter you are giving them a great helping hand.
On Saturday, December 17th, 2022, Nature Moncton will once again be participating in the continent-wide annual Christmas bird count and our success depends on your participation. For this 62nd year of the Moncton count can we get 62 feeders reporting? This is your chance to help us reach that goal. If you are at home, even if just a short time, please note the birds you see at your feeders. If you have a neighbour who would also be interested, please forward this message.
 Your support will ensure the Moncton area is well represented and that the counts reflect the birds attracted to our urban feeders. This important tally helps the birds and nature.  
If you have previously participated in the Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) or are new to this Annual Citizen Science survey, please join us in this exciting event. The work is little and the rewards are great. Simply note what you see at your feeders that day, fill out the form included below and pass the data on to me at susandatkinson@hotmail.com. Emailed tallies using the enclosed form simplifies the tabulating process but is not essential. If you have any problems with doing the count or completing the form, just send me your tally including what and how many you saw, how much time you spent etc. Please include your address so the counts can be collated into the correct zones.
All your feeder count data is added to the results of our 9 field teams that will be concurrently counting species and the individual birds they find in a 24 km diameter circle around Moncton.
This notice is going out via the NM Nature News mailing list and to contacts from previous years. If you have friends and neighbours who are not members but have feeders, please feel free to pass on this message. Every participant’s observations will support this worthy study. Below are instructions and the easy form to complete.

 Many thanks for taking time during this very busy pre-Christmas season to help with this important citizen’s scientific research survey.

Susan Atkinson,
506-381-3284
susandatkinson@hotmail.com

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Nature Moncton’s 62nd Annual Citizens’ Christmas Bird Count

But what is the “Christmas Bird count”? It’s the longest-running Citizen Science survey in the world. It has now been going on for 123 years. In Canada it is coordinated by Bird Studies Canada. From December 14, 2022 to January 5, 2023 several thousand volunteers throughout North America and beyond will brave the winter weather to count birds on a specific day in each count circle. From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers and regional editors, everyone who takes part in a Christmas Bird Count is making a difference for science and bird conservation. Scientists rely on the remarkable trend data from the Christmas Bird Count to better understand how birds and the environment are getting along and what needs to be done to protect them.
We would also like to obtain any unusual bird species observations (not on the list) made during the official Moncton count week: December 14 to 20, 2022, Please enter any pertinent observation and dates etc made at the bottom of the table. These bird species not seen on count day can be added to the Audubon CBC web site.
Should you be able to participate I have included a short explanation below of the process to follow. The form is writable so just click beside the species and enter the #. You can email your data to me as an attachment or in the form included in the body of the email as soon as is convenient after the count day. A summary of the final tallies will be sent to all participants.
Counting   Many of the same birds may visit your feeder more than once during the day. To get around this you only submit the maximum number of each species that you observed all at one time during the day. The maximum number of a different species may be at another time.
Example A: if you see, at various times 3, 7, or 5 Black-capped Chickadees, you only record 7 for the day’s total.
Example B: the sexes of some birds are distinct. Downey and Hairy Woodpecker males have red patches on their heads, females do not. If you see 2 Downey females at one time and a male later, your total would be 3.
Watch Time It is important that you do your best to record the total time spent watching. You are not expected to watch continuously, but if you look at your feeders every 15 minutes or so from say 8:00 am to 2:00 pm you record 6 hours of watching time. If you did watch continuously for 2 hours in the morning and 1 in the afternoon, record 3 hours total. Whatever the time just record it.

Note: The first three hours of daylight may be the most productive in some areas.

          Nature Moncton’s

Christmas Birdfeeder Count (CBC)
    Saturday, December 18, 2021

For contact and / or information 

please contact Susan Atkinson at

  ​susandatkinson@hotmail.com

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