The 10th consecutive Cachuma Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, will begin early this morning and end, for most participants, in a dinner this evening when the results are compiled.

The count, which takes place near Lake Cachuma, is one of more than 2,100 counts conducted annually from all 50 states to South America.

Organizers say the count is the largest and longest-running example of “citizen science.”

The data collected by observers over the past century allow researchers, conservation biologists, and other interested people to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of changes in the continent's bird populations.

Participants can take part for either a half or full day. The count circle has a 7.5-mile radius and is centered on Happy Canyon Road, about seven miles from Highway 154. Feeder watchers living within the count circle are welcome to participate.

Each year within a 3-week period more than 57 million individual birds are seen from 2,267 species at more than 2,100 count circles from Alaska, the Pacific Islands south through Mexico, Central and South America. Fifty-eight thousand people gather this data in the field and at home at bird feeders.

“With information going back to 1900 in the database we can see the species that have increased, those that have declined, and we can identify, in some cases, the patterns that affect multiple species linked to a particular ecosystem,” said Mark Holmgren, coordinator of the bird count. “Ecosystem problems, of course, directly affect humans sooner or later, so this database has relevance to us. Because so many species are long-distance migrants, problems in one ecosystem may show up in bird populations elsewhere.

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“New questions arise that can be responded to with CBC data. For example, we are in a period of global warming, but exactly how that will affect our region is largely unclear. Because there are so many different species of birds, each with a different set of physiological responses to changes in the environment, we can gauge some of these effects through birds.”

In Santa Barbara County, there are four CBC circles. The Santa Barbara circle is particularly rich, ranking in many years as the count with the third-largest number of species of any U.S. or Canadian count circle. Santa Barbara often ranks first in species number in California.

“The Cachuma circle, although only six miles from the coast, provides a very different picture of bird populations,” said Holmgren. “But together the four count circles provide a rather complete image of how birds are arranged in the very late fall in Santa Barbara County. For example, without this focused effort in late December, we would not know how few loggerhead shrikes and Cassin's kingbirds there are in the Santa Ynez Valley in winter. Orange-crowned warblers, Townsend's warblers, and common yellowthroats are far less common in the Cachuma circle despite being abundant in the Santa Barbara circle. Ferruginous hawks, mountain bluebirds, and Lewis' woodpeckers are seldom seen along the South Coast, but are regular in the Santa Ynez Valley. Canada geese and wild turkeys are increasing in the Valley and in many parts of the Western United States. Who would have known that the national high count of northern pygmy owls (seven) would come from the Cachuma circle?

“The 10-year record of Cachuma CBC birds can inform us about our lands and our stewardship of them. That can be a source of pride or concern, but in either case the information from this count circle is part of our community awareness and anyone can access these data.

“Most importantly, it's a chance to get outside, meet new people, and see familiar areas through a new lens. Novice birders can hook up with more experienced birders. You can count for either a half or a full day. You can sit in front of your feeder and count those birds. If you have a bird of interest at your feeder, please let us know before the count so that we can help you keep track of it. Send us a photo of birds you cannot identify at your feeder.

“My objective is to recruit preferably knowledgeable birders, but novices are welcome too,” Holmgren said.

To participate, e-mail him at maholmgren@yahoo.com.

December 30, 2008