The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

Participants count birds anywhere for as little or as long as they wish during the four-day period. They tally the highest number of birds of each species seen together at any one time. To report their counts, they fill out an online checklist at the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

Why Count Birds?

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

Your counts can help us answer many questions:

• How will this winter’s snow and cold temperatures influence bird populations?

• Where are winter finches and other “irruptive” species that appear in large numbers during some years but not others?

• How will the timing of birds’ migrations compare with past years?

• How are bird diseases, such as West Nile virus, affecting birds in different regions?

• What kinds of differences in bird diversity are apparent in cities versus suburban, rural, and natural areas?

• Are any birds undergoing worrisome declines that point to the need for conservation attention?

We need your help. Make sure the birds from your community are well represented in the count. It doesn’t matter whether you report the 5 species coming to your backyard feeder or the 75 species you see during a day’s outing to a wildlife refuge.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in other locations on that day.

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time.

3. When you’re finished, enter your results at . http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

You’ll see a button marked “Enter Your Checklists!” at the top of the page on the website home page beginning on the first day of the count. It will remain active until the deadline for data submission on March 1st

Several dozen RH Naturalists and friends fanned out across the Richmond Hill Circle on Saturday, December 19, to particiapte in the 110th Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).  Fifty bird species — 5704 individuals — were obsverved and tallied over the course of the day.  The count details are shown in the table below.  The results include some good and relatively rare (for Richmond Hill) birds, including Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Barred Owl, Northern Shoveler and Green-wing Teal.  A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet was also found, the first in 15 years.  The final results will be submitted to Bird Studies Canada, which works with the Audubon Society in the US and elsewhere to analyze the data.

Several additional species including Fox sparrow and a hybird mallard/black duck will be included as part of Count Week, a period that spans 3 days before and 3 days after the official Count Day.  Watch this space and the January 2010 RHN Bulletin for detailed results and photographs.

The Richmond Hill Naturalists were just one group among thousands participating in the Christmas Bird Count throughout the western hemisphere. The count began in 1900 as an alternative to the then-traditional practice of the Christmas Side Hunt, in which sportsmen and women signed on to teams which then went out and vied to see which team could kill the most birds and other animals in the allotted time. An officer of the fledgling Audubon Society, ornithologist Frank Chapman started the new and less lethal tradition of the Bird Census. 27 birdwatchers in 25 cities (including Toronto) participated in that first count; last year more than 50,000 counters in 19 countries from Antarctica to Alaska took part.

The RHN has been participating in the Audubon CBC for most of the club’s 53-year history.

In keeping with club tradition, CBC participants met for a hot chili dinner, a glass of wine or two and some scrumptious deserts at the end of our count day.  This year’s dinner was graciously hosted by Joe and Berthe Agg — thank you for welcoming such a large group of tired and hungry birders into your beautiful home.  The chili was delicious and the evening was delightful.

The RHN would also like to thank Wild Birds Unlimited for their ongoing support of this event.

Richmond Hill – 2009 CBC Bird Census
Count Area:	1	2	3	5	6	7	8	9	Totals
Great Blue Heron		1						1	2
Mute Swan		1							1
Canada Goose	51	103	90	8	10	49	5	41	357
American Black Duck		4	45	2			1		52
Mallard		85	387	55	12	13	1055		1607
Northern Harrier					1				1
Sharp-shinned Hawk		1	2		1		1		5
Cooper’s Hawk		2	2	4			4		12
Red-tailed Hawk	2	2	6	10	6	5			31
Rough-legged Hawk								3	3
hawk sp.					2				2
American Kestrel			1	2	1				4
Ring-necked Pheasant									0
Ruffed Grouse	1								1
Ring-billed Gull	20	50	8	6		4			88
Herring Gull	1								1
gull sp.					2			8	10
Iceland Gull									0
Glaucous Gull									0
Great Black-backed Gull									0
Rock Pigeon	8	70	295	92	33	32		11	541
Mourning Dove	34	16	52	121	30	26	57	15	351
Eastern Screech-Owl						2			2
Great Horned Owl									0
Belted Kingfisher			1						1
Downy Woodpecker	5	4	12	3	5	9	8	3	49
Hairy Woodpecker	6		1	3	4	4	3		21
Pileated Woodpecker		2		2		1			5
Blue Jay	9	4	7	13	10	9	4	4	60
American Crow	19	9	9	9	2	48	69	8	173
Black-capped Chickadee	56	36	89	75	19	184	242	48	749
Red-breasted Nuthatch	2	1	6	2	4	10	3	2	30
White-breasted Nuthatch	7	3	23	3	5	5	12	7	65
Brown Creeper						1			1
Golden-crowned Kinglet						4			4
American Robin	1	4	1	12		7	2	1	28
Northern Mockingbird			1	2					3
Cedar Waxwing									0
Northern Shrike						2			2
European Starling	3	64	15	107	32	7	27	3	258
Northern Cardinal	21	6	37	9	10	14	12		109
American Tree Sparrow	9	4	27	6	9	26	1		82
Song Sparrow									0
Swamp Sparrow									0
White-throated Sparrow	5		1		1				7
Dark-eyed Junco	27	4	63	26	25	33	16	5	199
Snow Bunting									0
Purple Finch						28			28
House Finch	26	3	24	33	10		1	2	99
Common Redpoll									0
Pine Siskin									0
American Goldfinch	37	34	144	73	37	33	68	2	428
Evening Grosbeak									0
House Sparrow	8	3	110	45	15	3	6	13	203
Others:
Red-bellied Woodpecker					1	1			2
Chipping Sp					1				1
Carolina Wren	1								1
Trumpeter Swan		1					12	1	14
Northern Shoveler							1		1
Green-winged Teal							2	1	3
Barred Owl									0
Winter Wren			1						1
Ruby Crowned Kinglet				6					6
Fox Sp									0
Totals:	359	517	1460	729	288	560	1612	179	5704

With the 110th Annual Christmas Bird Count taking place this year on December 19, the Richmond Hill Naturalists are looking for people with bird feeders to open up their back yards for the Bird Counters. Bird Counters would visit volunteering households ONCE between 8am and 4:30pm on December 19. They will check the yard to count all the birds and bird species that may be seen there for just a few minutes – maybe longer if your yard is particularly exciting at that particular moment! You may also choose to count the birds and bird species in your yard yourself on December 19th and report your results.

The Richmond Hill Naturalists are just one group among thousands participating in the Christmas Bird Count throughout the western hemisphere. The count began in 1900 as an alternative to the then-traditional practice of the Christmas Side Hunt, in which sportsmen and women signed on to teams which then went out and vied to see which team could kill the most birds and other animals in the allotted time. An officer of the fledgling Audubon Society, ornithologist Frank Chapman started the new and less lethal tradition of the Bird Census. 27 birdwatchers in 25 cities (including Toronto) participated in that first count; last year more than 50,000 counters in 19 countries from Antarctica to Alaska took part.

In Richmond Hill, each year groups of birdwatchers of all levels of expertise disperse to their assigned sections; each group taking note of every bird and every species that they see in their area. The groups meet at the end of the day for the annual Chili Dinner, where their findings are totalled up. The club’s results in turn are submitted to Bird Studies Canada, which works with the Audubon Society in the US and elsewhere to analyze the data. If you wish to be a counter or to volunteer your back yard please leave a message with Gene Denzel at 905-889-7888 or email [email protected]

Richmond Hill Christmas Bird Count Map Circle

Please feel free to download and distribute the RHN Christmas Bird Count Poster.

(Red-headed Woodpecker photo by Gene Denzel)

The Richmond Hill and West Humber Naturalists are proud to present:

Bridget Stutchbury
York University Canada Research Chair &
Professor & Author of “Silence of the Songbirds”

Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church’s Wallace Hall
10066 Yonge St., Richmond Hill
(west side, first entrance north of Major Mackenzie Drive)

Prof. Stutchbury will be speaking on her recent ground-breaking research on tracking the routes and destination of individual songbirds in migration.

All members of the public are cordially invited to this event. There is no admission charge, however donations would be appreciated. Parking is free and refreshments will be served. Richmond Hill Naturalists is an organization of town residents concentrating on discovering, appreciating and enhancing the natural world. For more information about our organization, consult the web site www.rhnaturalists.ca or contact Marianne Yake, 905-883-3047

Join the RHN and Andy McKinnon at the Rouge Valley on Saturday 13 June at 8am, to explore the evolving wetlands — birds, frogs, and all. Andy is a well-known naturalist and conservationist who has explored all the nooks and crannies of the Rouge. We’ll meet at the Pearse house across from the Toronto Zoo (directions below) at 8 to hike down into the valley. Participants should wear good footwear and long pants.

The Rouge Valley Conservation Centre (Pearse House) is at 1749 Meadowvale Road in Scarborough. Drive north on Meadowvale from Sheppard, stay in the right-most lane, follow the blue RVCC signs, drive up the ramp and turn right at the top.
( The following TTC bus routes serve the RVCC: 85B from Don Mills subways station, 86A from Kennedy subway station, and 85A from Rouge Hill GO station.)