photo of pilleated woodpeckerHow many Gabriola birds would you recognize? Today the island’s birders are going out to count our birds, and similar events are happening all across North America. The Audobon Society gives the history:

Prior to the turn of the century, people engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt": They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.

Conservation was in its beginning stages around the turn of the 20th century, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman, an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition — a "Christmas Bird Census" — that would count birds in the holidays rather than hunt them.

So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Frank M. Chapman and the enthusiasm of twenty-seven dedicated birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations ranged from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America. Those original 27 Christmas Bird Counters tallied a total of 90 species on all the counts combined.

So let’s see. We’ve got vultures, eagles, herons, crows, ravens, woodpeckers, owls, and dozens of other feathered friends as well. Any bets on how many different sort of birds will be spotted this year on Gabriola?

(The photo is a snapshot I took of a pilleated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). They’re hard to photograph because they just won’t stay still for me!)

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