Claiming 1/3 of our birds back

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Posted January 21, 2022 | By Beth Whitehead

Marion Audubon Society joins national Christmas Bird Count to support research in bird population and to raise awareness of the dropping number of birds in the US.

If you were outside in southwestern Marion County two weeks ago and saw someone squinting through a pair of binoculars and holding his or her phone straight up in the air, you probably witnessed the national Audubon Christmas Bird Count. On January 3rd, the Marion Audubon Society, a chapter of the National Audubon Society, participated in the annual conservation event, photographing and counting numerous species of Florida birds.

The Marion Audubon Society count resulted in 5621 total birds spotted with 102 distinct species—this all in the southwestern Marion area. 37 participants in 14 teams scoured residential areas like Westwood Acres and public areas like Rainbow Springs State Park and Dunnellon Airport.

According to MAS secretary Barbara Schwartz, the Christmas Bird Count results are reported to Cornell, helpful in “tracking population and migration of the species.”

For 121 years, the National Audubon Society has held the Christmas Bird Count in place of the Side Hunt, which in the 1800s, was a popular Christmas day activity where towns hunted and shot every bird and small animal they found and then compared their kills. In 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman offered an alternative, a Christmas Bird Count, where participants take their binoculars to the field and tally up their counts, not their kills.

It’s a good thing too, because according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, America has lost 1/3 of its total bird population in the last seventy years. That’s nearly three billion birds.

The Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count is considered the oldest citizen science project at 122 years old. And the Marion Audubon Society has devoted itself to that legacy since 1986 by bringing awareness to the dropping number of birds and the best conservation strategies to Ocala and the rest of Marion County. Their focus, Schwartz said, “is preserving habitat and safety for birds.”

“There’s a lot of threats,” Schwartz said, “One: habitat loss. [There’s] lots of development. That’s huge. Number two: pesticides and herbicides. The birds have to eat bugs, the birds have to eat caterpillars—if they can’t get the bugs or they eat poison, there’s not going to be any birds. Number three: bird window collisions—especially in cities with the high-profile tall buildings, birds fly into the windows.”

And for the last threat, enter Silvester and Tweety—cats. Even an indoor-outdoor cat poses a threat to your neighborhood birds, Schwartz said.

People can help protect the local bird community by keeping cats inside, using less pesticides and herbicides, and turning out their lights at night, even in their businesses.

MAS hosts educational programs made available on Zoom and YouTube and partners with local organizations like the City of Ocala who they partnered with in construction of the Ocala Wetland Recharge Park. They even have a guide on their website walking you through what to do if you find an injured or orphaned bird.

Another resource MAS directs people to is eBird, an app for your phone that records and identifies bird calls. “Over 90 percent of birding is by ear,” Schwartz said. “You can’t always see the birds, but you can hear them.”

But MAS’s main attraction is the bird walks they organize in city, county, and state parks, along with their birding kayak trips for college and high school students.

The next MAS-hosted bird walk is on Tuesday, January 25th at 10am in Silver Springs State Park, 5656 East Silver Springs Blvd., Silver Springs, FL 34488. Bring binoculars (though if you don’t have a pair, they have some to lend), hats, sunscreen, bug spray, water, and wearing close-toe shoes.

For more information or if you’re interested in exploring volunteer opportunities, find an event schedule, general information, and a volunteer form on their website: https://marionaudubon.org/