Citizen scientists are out in force around the region participating in the annual Christmas Bird Count to get population estimates of local species.
“Each count is in a 24-kilometre radius circle that you can put anywhere you’d like and there are quite a few in the East Kootenay that run between December 14 and January 5,” said Ian Adams, participant in the 2024 bird count.
“It creates a tremendous dataset. That long-term data is a really important part of ecology because it helps us look at long-term trends.”
Bird counts went ahead in areas around Cranbrook, Creston, Invermere, the Elk Valley and the South Country, around Jaffray.
“They had 44 species out there and the most common one was the common raven, which is probably not too surprising,” said Adams.
“There was also a lot of Townsend’s solitaire, which is a songbird that we find around here all winter.”
Adams was part of the team that covered Cranbrook’s urban areas.
“We were counting ducks at the mall, pigeons at the old dairy and ravens and more ducks out at the sewage lagoons,” said Adams.
“We counted about 100 mallards at the mall and some more interesting birds like the American dipper, which is a little songbird that likes to live near fast-running water. We saw five of them out in the St. Mary River near Ê”aq’am.”
Adams says the team counted 37 different species of bird in the Cranbrook count this year, which was down from their usual 42 species.
According to the State of Canada’s Birds 2024 report, researchers have noticed a downward trend in species count across the country.
“There are groups of birds like shore birds and grassland birds that are really in trouble and have seen major declines. On the other hand, birds like raptors are up quite a bit, with 148 species across Canada,” said Adams.
“Overall, the numbers are declining. The number of species may be hanging on, but overall, the numbers are generally going in a direction we do not like to see.”
A count around Kimberley and Kuskanook will be completed in early January, with the final numbers for the region to come later on.
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