GREENFIELD – The Greenfield bird count is at the highest in recent history, and local bird enthusiasts say winter is just as good a time as any to watch for feathered friends.
Eighteen local residents participated in the Christmas Bird Count last month, an annual tradition for birders across the country.
“We tied our highest count in seven years with 58 (species),” said organizer Adam Wilson, who has been leading the Greenfield Birders group with wife Sara for seven years. “Most years, we usually find a species we haven’t before – this year we had three new species.”
The National Audubon Society honors a bird count every December as a way to track species. Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas Side Hunt where people would go afield with guns and bring back piles of quarry, according to audubon.org.
Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, an early officer in the NAS proposed a new holiday tradition – a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than harm them.
Today, between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout America brave the winter weather to participate in the count, which assesses the health of bird populations and helps guide conservation action.
In Greenfield, the Wilsons have been organizing a count each December, basing their map out of Greenfield Central Junior High School and searching a 15-mile radius for species.
“The count window runs from midnight to midnight; we kick off our morning at Jack’s Donuts about an hour before sunrise,” Wilson said. “The people who were on teams were out in cars or out walking around in parks.”
In addition to public parks, they also get permission from private businesses to search for birds. Wooded lands in Greenfield golf courses, for example, make great bird sightings and can locate birds hard to spot elsewhere.
The new birds identified included the Gray Catbird, Cackling Goose and a Brewer’s Duck, which is a Mallard/Gadwall duck hybrid.
Others included various species of woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls, sparrows, herons, geese and more.
Overall, he’s pleased with the turnout of hobby birdwatchers, from those who went out in the field on a cold winter day to spot birds, to those who stayed in the comfort of their home to watch and count from bird feeders.
This is the primary official count of birds every year, though Greenfield Birders gathers regularly from April to October to seek and photograph birds. Wilson said winter is still a good time to search the skies.
“A lot of species do (migrate) but there is a misconception that pretty much all birds do,” he said. “Where we’re located in the midwest, we are the southernmost area for some migratory birds.”
Some species from Canada will migrate here and continue to feed on seeds, he said. Species that feed on insects fly further south for the winter.
People that want to care for birds this winter might consider placing heated bird baths in their yards. Always keep cats inside, Wilson said, and consider placing bird feeders with seed outside regularly. Bird feeders should also be cleaned at least once a year – hummingbird feeders even more often– to protect the health of birds.
Greenfield Birders is supported by local audubon societies and Greenfield Parks and Recreation. The group promotes birding, including bird watching, identification protection and the education of habitats to attract birds of different species.
They will announce a schedule soon of bird-watching events, which are generally held the second and fourth Saturday each month from April through October. Locations include Thornwood Nature Preserve, Brandywine Park and Beckenholdt Park. For more information, search “Greenfield Birders” on Facebook.
