Each year during the holiday season for over one hundred
years now, approximately 1800 National Audubon Society chapters,
independent bird clubs and other wildlife organizations across
the country participate in a Christmas Bird Count.
Each
organization selects a 24 hour period within a 16 day window
to count all the individual birds and species within a 15
mile diameter geographic circle. Sponsored by the National
Audubon Society, the results are forwarded to Cornell
University (Bird
Source) for electronic storage. All birds recorded for
the past 102 years on Christmas Bird Counts are available
on the internet for use by researchers, students, birders
and the general public.
The TMBC sponsors two of these annual counts Tehachapi and
Bear Valley/ Cummings Valley and
presents its findings in a printed report for each member.
This effort typically involves about 420 hours of TMBC volunteer
time.
The TMBC budgets for the administrative costs of data tabulation
at Bird Source, ensuring our Christmas bird count will be
included in the national statistics.