Clarksville, TN – Saturday, January 2nd, 2016, will be the date for the Clarksville Christmas Bird Count (CBC). This is the 116th year for the National Audubon Society and the 45th for Clarksville (sponsored by Warioto Audubon)!
The 72nd CBC in 1971/1972 was the first Clarksville count. The CBC is the longest running, and most wide-spread, Citizen Science survey in the world and provides critical data on population trends.
You are encouraged to participate whether you consider yourself an expert birder or not. Spotting and tallying birds in concert with a more experienced birder makes an important contribution to the success of the count, and it helps you learn more about the Clarksville-area winter birds.
Of course, if you are an experienced birder you should be counting birds! There is a correlation between the number of birders participating and the number of species counted, i.e., the more eyes, the better the results.
Field counters meet at Shoney’s (Second Street and Kraft Street) at 6:00am on Saturday, January 2nd, where we will organize into groups that will count in assigned areas of the official count circle. At the end of the day (dusk) we will meet at the Biology Conference Room (D-125) of the Sundquist Science Building to enjoy a chili dinner and tally the day’s results.
You can park behind Trahern near the fountain area and enter the building at the double doors facing the Trahern Art Building. See the APSU campus map at: www.apsu.edu/sites/apsu.edu/files/map/2015_CampusMap.pdf
If you cannot join the outdoor field counter group, you may still contribute by being a Feeder Counter on the same day. Your feeder (or yard) must be within the count circle (see diagram of circle below).
To be a feeder counter you need to do the following:
(1) Record how much time you spend watching the feeder (or yard) on January 2nd.
(2) Record the largest number of individuals of a species seen at one time. For instance, if you see one Carolina Chickadee at any one moment, record “1.” If later you see two chickadees, your count is then “2” and NOT the sum “3″. If you never see more than 2 chickadees at the same time over the course of the counting day, your final count will be “2.”
Call Sally Schiller at 931.237.7212 or e-mail her at schillers@apsu.edu with your feeder results. Sally will also answer any feeder count questions before the count date such as determining if your home falls within the circle. Feeder counters are encouraged to join the post-count dinner and tally at the Biology Conference Room (D-125) of the Sundquist Science Building.
Also, “count week” records can be included for the three days before and three days after the count date. So, watch and record birds from Wednesday, December 30 through Tuesday, January 5th. If they were not seen on count day, they will be added to the count as a “count week” record.
Contact Debbie Hamilton ( hamiltond@apsu.edu ) with count week records or any other questions.
