The Christmas Bird Count has been happening in Duluth for over eighty years. The annual event is just as the title suggests; people go out at Christmas time to count birds. As simple as that sounds, the details of the history, as well as the collected data, tells a bigger story.
Nationally, the Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 as a response to the tradition of shooting birds. "People kind of got fed up with that, noticing local decline in birds," says Clinton Dexter-Neinhaus, organizer of the Duluth Christmas Bird Count.
Now that the guns are holstered, the Bird Count is a recreational activity for expert birders and novices alike that yields data that can be used for various reports and research. "It's become this big citizen-science effort," says Dexter-Neinhaus. "Data gets used in many facets."
For more information on the Christmas Bird Count, visit the Audobon website. You can also see a presentation by Clinton Dexter-Neinhaus online. If you're interested in getting involved with the local Bird Count, contact Clinton directly. "I can always use more feeder watchers."
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