During this year’s Christmas Bird Count, there were a few surprises. Twenty-seven volunteers braved the wind and low temperatures to get those birds counted. Collectively, they traveled 70 miles and spent more than 32 hours.
The Count was started in 1900 by ornithologist Frank Chapman, an officer in the new Audubon Society. It was proposed as an alternative to the traditional Christmas Day Bird Hunt. Since then, it’s grown across the country.
And it’s the 29th year for the Talkeetna-Trapper Creek Christmas Count. And in that time, some birds have been reliably showing most years and others seemed to have dropped off. Christmas Bird Count co-organizer Kathy Ernst talks about the importance of this citizen data.
“When there’s citizen data, you know it’s not scientific data, but it indicates trends because we’re the people on the ground. And then the scientists go well gee this is an interesting trend. I wonder what’s going on.”
Ernst notes the lack of redpolls this year and this was the third year of 29, though not consecutive, that there have been zero counted.
“They are a common bird, but they are in decline. They’re not in decline enough because they are so common to be on a watch list, but they are noticing that they are in a sharp decline.”
Only two boreal chickadees were spotted this year. Last year marked the first that there were none. They have been spotted 28 of the 29 years of the count.
“We’ve had as many as 62 boreal chickadees in 2003. There were two that were seen [this year], there were none that were seen last year. I think we’ve definitely seen a decrease in boreals.”
Bald eagles and ptarmigans are also missing from this year’s count.
Spruce grouse and ruffed grouse are missing too. Suspicions are that the bark beetle that has killed many of the area spruces might have something to do with the lack of grouse. But woodpecker numbers increased, which also may be related to the increase in beetles.
But one unique bird showed during count week and was also spotted on count day. That was the saw-whet owl, an unusual species in Alaska. Ernst explains how these birds must be tallied.
“I reported it as unusual. And there’s a whole lot of paperwork you have to do to verify that yes indeed it was seen and what are the qualifications of the person that saw it and all of that.
The weather may have played a role in this year’s lower numbers, but it’s unclear just how much it played. A total of 267 birds were tallied this year, compared to more than 1,500 last year. And it’s not well understood why there are hundreds of one species some years and none the next. But citizen data can be one way that scientists begin to answer those questions.
