The 126th Christmas Bird Count
At the turn of the twentieth century, conservation was in its beginning stages, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.
So began the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). From December 14th through January 5th each year tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort. Each count takes place in an established 15-mile diameter circle. Count volunteers follow specified routes, counting every bird they see or hear all day. If your home is within the boundaries of a CBC circle, then you can stay at home and report birds that visit your feeder on count day as long as you have made prior arrangements with the count compiler.
For Virginia and Washington DC, last year, the 125th CBC, had a total of 54 counts with 212 species recorded and a total of 919,005 individuals, which is significantly higher than the 752,144 birds reported for the 124th CBC.
The data collected by observers over the past century has allowed Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys, such as the Virginia Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of how the continent's bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years. This long term perspective is vital for conservationists. It informs strategies to protect birds and their habitat, and helps identify environmental issues with implications for people as well.
Why is this important? Birds are not doing well. According to Cornell’s All About Birds website, wild bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada have dropped by almost 30% between 1970 and 2020 — a 2.9 billion decline in bird populations. The State of the Birds Report for the U.S. for 2025 show continued declines but do show that conservation works. Read the report at https://www.stateofthebirds.org/2025/.
There are two circles on the Peninsula. In the lower part of the Peninsula, the Hampton Roads Bird Club (HRBC) will do their 74th Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 20th and the Williamsburg Bird Club (WBC), in the upper part of the Peninsula will do their count on Sunday, December 14th. Both bird clubs are part of the Audubon’s total effort with specified areas mapped out and send in their data to this very important effort.
There are circles on the southside and up in Mathews as well on the Eastern Shore. You can see all the circles, the date of their count, and their contact info at https://www.audubon.org/community-science/christmas-bird-count/join-christmas-bird-count.
There are several other citizen-science projects that one can participate in. The easiest one is eBird, where you record where you are and what birds you see, and by sending the tally into Cornell, you are providing valuable data, helping to conserve our bird life.
Go to https://ebird.org to get started.