For many years, in what was an annual Christmas tradition all across the nation, hunters would go out and kill as many birds and game animals as they possibly could. It was called the Side Hunt - a mass slaughter in which people chose sides and then competed to see who could bring in the biggest kill.
“It wasn’t about eating,” says Leif Anderson, who is data compiler for the Arkansas Christmas Bird Count. “It was just to see how many you could get.”
Joe Neal, an avid birder and count organizer in Northwest Arkansas, explains that around the year 1900, “Somebody got the bright idea that, ‘Why don’t we go out and instead of shooting, why don’t we just look at them and make a list of what we saw?’”
It was a revolutionary and decidedly less bloody idea that gradually caught on and evolved into the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, the longest-held, largest bird database in the world. Arkansas’ first bird count was in Monticello in 1910. Fayetteville’s count is the oldest continuous count, going strong since 1920.
All across the nation, from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5, as many as 50,000 people gather in small groups to explore a designated 15-mile circle in their hometowns, parks and wildlife refuges, making note of every finch, turkey, eagle, vulture and rufous-crowned sparrow they see.
The compiler for each circle divides the circle into sections and assigns parties to each section. An experienced birder in each group keeps the official tally, and then the tally sheets are combined, organized, sorted, entered into an electronic database and sent to the Audubon Society for review and acceptance. All skill levels and time commitment levels are welcome.
To start a count, an individual or organization or agency can contact the National Audubon Society. A circle of 7.5-mile radius is drawn around a center point, and the count is conducted within that circle.
Starting in the 1960s, the Audubon Society began putting some simple rules and controls on the counts and how they were carried out - to make the data more scientific. Neal explains that each group keeps track of how many people are counting, how many hours they spend counting when they’re walking, how many miles they drive. That data is then used for trend analysis.
For instance, using the data, you can get the number of Northern cardinals spotted per party hour in 2013, then compare those numbers to the numbers collected in 1970. Are there more or fewer cardinals? Are they more common in certain areas than they were 40 years before?
The data has also come up in climate change discussions. The bird count data reveals a trend in which some birds are wintering farther and farther north than they used to. In Arkansas, the Eastern Phoebes that used to fly south with the first freeze are commonly seen in December.
The reasons for such changes are debated, but regardless of theories, the bird counts provide valuable data through “citizen science.”
The Audubon Society makes all the data available to the public with charts and maps on its website.
For Neal, though, data are secondary.
“The data just provides an excuse,” he says. “The single most important reason for the Christmas Bird Count: It’s fun!”
Some counts end with a party where the participants eat pizza, drink beer, organize their lists and “tell lies about all the birds we saw during the day.”
Whether you’re a veteran birder who can identify a type of duck at the barest glimpse or a neophyte who fumbles through a brand-new bird book, bird counts are intended to be fun for all. For organizers like Neal, “that’s job No. 1.”
The physical requirements for the counters vary depending on the circle in which they work. Anderson explains, “Some may just bird from a car. Some may be on a boat. Some may be on an ATV at times.”
People who have difficulty walking unassisted often can be given a post that involves watching a feeder within the circle.
Another benefit of the count is that it gives participants the chance to get to know their area in a new way.
“You don’t see the town as a system of streets or neighborhoods or businesses or anything,” Neal says. “You get to know it as a place where the birds live. It’s seeing the town or community from a different perspective.”
Most of the scheduled counts for Arkansas have already occurred, but four remain on the official list, including Mount Magazine, which is hosting its very first count Jan. 4 (contact Don Simons, don.simons@arkansas.gov, by Friday).
This count has the potential to be an exciting one, says Anderson, who’s helping to lead it. “Lots of times [Mount Magazine] has bird species that aren’t found in other parts of the state.”
For instance, it’s the only place in the state where birders have seen a rufous-crowned sparrow and Townsend’s solitaire.
The outing will be open to all, regardless of mobility issues, but Anderson notes timing could be a bit unpredictable since “Mount Magazine makes its own weather.”
Other forthcoming bird counts are:
Dec. 28: Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge, contact Dick Preston at dickpreston@bigriver.net.
Jan. 2: Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, contact Anderson at leanderson@fs.fed.us.
Jan. 5: Lake Georgia Pacific/ Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, contact Anderson.
Each count has a start and end time. Some start at noon. Some, if they’re looking for owls, could start at 4 a.m. If you want to participate, you must let organizers know in advance.
Counters should dress for the weather and take binoculars. Snacks are a good idea, too, and lunch if your circle is in a more remote area.
And don’t forget a camera. Last year, two participants in the Fayetteville count spotted and took a picture of a prairie falcon, a very rare sighting for Arkansas. This year, so far, there have been rare trumpeter swans, white-winged doves, spotted towhees and long-tailed ducks.
So the Side Hunt may be over, but the competition (far less violent) continues.
Neal says, “I’ll have my camera just hoping that rare bird pops up and I can get a picture of it. Just throw out my chest and start bragging!”
Visit arbirds.org or call (479) 284-3150, Extension 3151.
ActiveStyle, Pages 26 on 12/23/2013