Birding/Wildlife: Feeder Watcher

This is Passport to Texas

The Christmas Bird count ends today. No need to get your feathers ruffled—there’s always next year.

The count is a project of the National Audubon Society where for three weeks around the Christmas holiday, volunteers count birds during a 24-hour period in a 15-mile diameter circle.

05—But there aren’t any on December 25th—you can’t compete with family time and ripping open presents.

Volunteers submit their observations to the lead person, called a compiler.

05—That compiler then crunches all the numbers and turns in—nationally—a count for the whole circle.

The count also has opportunities for folks who for whatever reason cannot get to a circle. They’re called feeder watchers.

23—That’s someone that just merely watches out their back window and looks at the birds coming to the feeder and just counting those things. It’s a really good niche for someone that’s not able to get out if it’s too cold, or you’re just not physically able to get out, or maybe you have a newborn at the house, These are people that might have their eyes open watching the feeder and can contribute.

There are additional feeder watch programs that go on during other times of the year. Find them at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series as well as conservation programs in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Video on Feeder Watch Program

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