HRA Christmas Bird Count 2025

Event Description

It's time to count birds for the Annual Christmas Bird Count. We want you to help us find all of the bird in the Daytona Count Circle and be part of an event over 100 years in the making.

David Hartgrove will be our captain in the adventure. You must check with David before the count to receive your assignment for the day. You will be assigned to a team with an experienced leader for a day of avian scavenger hunting. You don't have to spend all day counting. If you only want to search for a few hours, that's okay.

David can be reached at the following email: birdman9@earthlink.net

The Christmas Bird Count has evolved to become a hugely important pool of data for researchers studying the ongoing status and ranges of bird populations across the Americas.  The only other similar yardstick is the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), run during June in the breeding season.  The co-analyses of CBC and BBS have become the combined yardstick by which ornithologists and conservation biologists assess how bird populations are doing--and where they are occurring--across the Americas.  

What is expected of participants for the count?

Record every bird seen or heard in your assigned area, and only between midnight and 11:59 pm on your count date.

Try to cover your assigned route as thoroughly as possible during daylight hours.

Nocturnal birding or “owling” is optional.

Record all hours spent watching or listening for birds.

Record all miles traveled while watching or listening for birds (see guide to CBC party miles/hours for details).

Record each mode of transportation (by foot, by car, etc.), and match the mode with # hours and miles for each type.

Record hours watching at feeders separately from any birding in the field.

Record hours and miles “owling” (nocturnal birding) separately from any birding in the field during count day.

Give these to your sector leader by the end of your count day.