The 109th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) — the North American continent’s longest-running wildlife census — officially ended today.  I just returned from my 3rd (and favorite) CBC yesterday: the Janos/Ejido San Pedro count in Chihuahua, Mexico.

The CBC is a tradition that began in 1900 and has now expanded to numerous countries throughout the Western hemisphere.  Although it began as more of a social count, the data is being used today to track bird population trends and identify important areas for conservation.

I’ve personally done CBC’s since I was a pre-teen and have now done them in many states and two countries.  You just never know what you will find when you head out on a dark winter morning, which is perhaps the greatest attraction of the entire CBC.

The Janos/Ejido San Pedro count, which I compile, is definitely one of my all-time favorites, though.  This area, an important conservation priority for the Conservancy, many local organizations, and the Mexican government, lies just south of the U.S. border.

There is some mysterious, not well understood, and invisible avian distribution line between the border and this count area, such that several species that are rare (or even not found) in the United States occur regularly in the area. Plus, there is the fun of introducing the CBC tradition to the local inhabitants, many of whom don’t fully realize the richness of the birds that occur there.

For this particular count, we survey a mixture of lands, including a large Conservancy preserve (the El Uno Ecological Reserve), several private ranches, ejidos (communally owned lands that are unique to Mexico), and some Mennonite agricultural areas — quite a diverse mix of habitats that usually yields about 105 (or more) species of birds.

Find out more about the CBC and please plan on participating next year!  CBCs are always done between December 14 and January 5.

(Image: Cardinal in snow. Credit: Prairiestateoutdoors.com, licensed under a Creative Commons license.)

Tags: Birds, Dave Mehlman, Janos, Mexico