122nd Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count

ACES invites you to help count birds on Sunday, December 19, 2021 in the Aspen area for the 122nd Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the longest-running citizen science survey in the world. Birders of all experience levels are welcome and encouraged to participate in this important census that has helped assess the health of bird populations and guided conservation action since 1900. Across the Western Hemisphere, over 50,000 people will be counting birds during local count events, many of them making the adventure of winter birding a seasonal tradition.

This year the Aspen CBC will be held on December 19th as a remote and individual or “pod” experience. We are inviting past and new participants. Volunteers interested in gathering data for the CBC should register here.

Rebecca Weiss, Aspen’s CBC compiler, will reach out to registered volunteers to assign specific areas within the Aspen CBC 15 mile diameter circle based on volunteers’ preferences and will provide instructions on count methods and data forms. Feeder count and count week data are also accepted for the CBC; please contact Rebecca so you can get Audubon’s instructions for these efforts at 970-404-0114 or austinrebeccaweiss@gmail.com.

Please plan on using your own car, using public transportation, or birding your assigned area on foot (carpooling may only be done with folks within a “pod,” for example family members). We will attempt to coordinate new participants to join an experienced participant in the field on CBC day, if possible. 
 

Other ways to participate are:

• Register your Bird Feeder (check the map to see if your feeder is within the CBC circle),
• Feeder watching and count-week observations. Contact us for details.

Get into the swing of local winter birding at our Morning Birding outing on Tuesday, December 7 at Hallam Lake. Morning Birding is held on the first Tuesday of each month throughout winter. We hope you will join us!

Photo: Tufted Titmouse by Michele Black/Great Backyard Bird Count from Audubon.org.