Counting Birds
The Brown Family Environmental Center will host its eighth annual Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.
The center, 9781 Laymon Rd., has invited local bird counters to lunch at noon that day. The Christmas Bird Count has participants all across North America. Bird watchers, families, and entire communities tally the birds they see in fields, their backyards, or at feeders.
The bird count was born out of an entirely different tradition -- the Christmas Day pursuit by some hunters who competed to collect the most dead birds. As scientists and observers, however, began to note declining bird populations, a happy alternative was created. On Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman initiated a new holiday tradition-the Christmas Bird Census, today called the Christmas Bird Count.
The Christmas Bird Count offers individuals and families a way to actively participate in conservation efforts. Heather Doherty, center program manager, said the information gathered by bird watchers is invaluable in tracking bird populations. "With knowledge, we're better prepared to take action," Doherty said.
To participate in the Christmas Bird Count please register with Doherty at dohertyh@kenyon.edu or call 740-427-5052.