Join the bird count for fun and science

Today marks the last day of the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, a mammoth citizen science effort to keep track of numbers and species of birds across half the globe, and one that has happened, believe it or not, for the last 117 years.

Thanks to Grant Beauprez, a lesser prairie chicken biologist with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish stationed for the past decade in eastern New Mexico, local birders are part of that effort. It is one of the nicest traditions of the holiday season.

During a three-week block each winter from mid-December through early January, more than 72,000 volunteers all across the western hemisphere participate in day-long surveys that take place in designated "count circles," 15-mile diameter rings registered with Audubon to help keep an eye — or ideally, many eyes — on bird populations.

"When I moved here in 2007," Grant said, "the nearest Audubon counts were in Muleshoe and at Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Roswell." Grant suggested a circle be added for Clovis in 2008. Four years ago, the south Roosevelt county community of Milnesand became the center of another circle added by Grant, one that is — happily for me — exactly large enough to include my home.

My bird-watching skills are rudimentary at best, but I find birds and bird-watchers endlessly entertaining. I have also learned that after people have spent an entire morning bumping down dirt roads and slogging through fields and pastures in unpredictable weather, they have an enthusiastic appreciation for both hot food and indoor plumbing, so my home is the annual lunch spot for the Milnesand count.

It's easy to live in or pass through eastern New Mexico without realizing the biodiversity of the High Plains. This year the Milnesand counters tallied up 35 bird species, while the Clovis bird counters found 76. ("Clovis has a more wide ranging diversity of habitats than Milnesand," Grant explained, "thus more species.")

Those numbers represent only a fraction of the species that have been recorded year-round on the Llano Estacado. Grant said about 540 species of birds have been spotted in New Mexico at one time or another. Curry County has 298 recorded species; Roosevelt County has 339.

Grant did a Roosevelt County "big year" in 2013 — a January to December marathon in which a birder keeps track of the total number of species he/she records in a particular geographic area. Diligently birding on early mornings, evenings, weekends, and vacations, Grant managed to check off 208 species in Roosevelt County.

How can you not love an activity that has you out searching for birds like long-eared owls, downy woodpeckers, red-breasted mergansers, and red-naped sapsuckers (all seen on this year's count)?

If birding piques your interest, Grant has some recommendations: "Oasis State Park is a good place. Ned Houk Park, Greene Acres Park, Hillcrest Park. These are all excellent places year round. Early morning and late afternoon and evening are the best times to bird."

Our feathered friends are also grateful for bird-appropriate backyard habitat. Water is the most important element, Grant says, either in a birdbath or tub, along with seed feeders and/or suet feeders. A variety of native trees and shrubs make the best shelter.

If you want to learn more about a Christmas tradition that far surpasses hitting the mall, visit http://www.audubon.org and search for "Christmas bird count." Then participate. You'll be glad you did. And if you come to the Milnesand count, lunch is on me.

Betty Williamson loves birds and birders. You may reach her at: [email protected]