90 Counters Expected for Local Bird Tally

The Ventura Audubon Christmas Bird Count will be held Sunday, with nearly 90 counters expected to be among more than 44,000 volunteers nationwide who will take part in the 96th annual event.

The custom dates back to Christmas Day in 1900, when 27 conservationists decided to protest a traditional holiday bird shoot by counting birds instead of seeing how many could be killed in a single day.

Today, volunteers from 50 states, every Canadian province and other parts of the world will count and record every bird and bird species encountered during one calendar day. About 1,700 individual Christmas bird counts will be held during a 2 1/2-week period.

Each count group has a designated circle 15 miles in diameter--about 177 square miles--where it covers as much ground as possible within a 24-hour period. The data collected by each group are sent to National Audubon Society headquarters in New York, where the information becomes part of the longest-running ornithological database.

The count reveals scientifically useful information on the early winter distribution patterns of various bird species and the overall health of the environment, officials said.

Count data is published in a special edition of the National Audubon Society’s Field Notes magazine.

The Ventura count is open to bird-watchers of all skill levels. For more information, contact Peg Stevens at 648-2495.