The annual Banff-Canmore Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place on Saturday, Dec. 20.
This will be the 40th consecutive year for the local event, which is organized by Bow Valley Naturalists.
Participants can expect to find a dozen or two different species and spend some refreshing time outdoors. Last year’s count had a record 66 participants who enjoyed a balmy day looking for birds in the Bow Valley.
However, as has been learned in the past, reasonably good conditions do not automatically produce an abundance of birds. Last year’s warm weather produced 43 different species, which is the average for this area.
Along with this, 2,077 individual birds were spotted, almost 400 birds less than the long-term average of 2,446. Of note last year, there were less mallards than usual and more dark-eyed Juncos and Townsend’s Solitaires. A common grackle found in Banff was new for this count. Every year is slightly different.
Standard procedure for CBCs requires that counting be done during one 24-hour period within a designated circle 24 kilometres in diameter.
The Banff-Canmore count circle has its centre on the Bow River below Mt. Rundle so as to include the Town of Banff west to Vermilion Lakes, and the Town of Canmore east to the Trans-Canada/Highway 1A interchange.
Participation in the count is free and will be followed by a potluck supper at the Banff Seniors Centre, where results will be compiled and stories exchanged about the day’s activities.
For more information or to participate; in Banff, contact Heather Dempsey at [email protected]; in Canmore, contact Ethan Denton at [email protected].
CBCs are done throughout North America and in some tropical areas in Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. The activity began well over a century ago in the U.S. as a protest of the existing Christmas tradition in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and other animals in one day.
Last year, more than 60,000 volunteers were expected to be involved in over 2,000 locations. Results from these counts may be used to help track bird populations as they respond to global climate change.
This massive, international volunteer ornithological effort is coordinated by the National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada (BSC). After count results have been submitted, they may be viewed at: www.bsc-eoc.org.
