Audubon Society to conduct annual Christmas bird count in Three Forks
By BEN PIERCE Chronicle Outdoors
The Audubon Society’s Christmas bird count has been a Montana tradition for more than 100 years. The first count in the state was conducted in Bozeman by Aretus Saunders in 1908. Saunders counted birds for the Society on foot and horseback that year, and again in 1911.
From 1911-1919, Nelson Lundwall carried out the counts in the Bozeman area. A gap of 30 passed before Montana State University ornithologist Clifford Davis and Homer Metcalf began the Bozeman count anew in 1949. Since 1955, the counts have run continuously in Bozeman and other communities across the state.
There are 32 Christmas bird counts scheduled in Montana this winter. On Sunday, Dennis Flath will lead the Audubon Society’s efforts in Three Forks. Flath, a 29-year veteran of the counts, said the outings offer a chance for the public to partake in “citizen science.”
“The Christmas bird counts serve the function of tracking bird populations over time,” Flath said on Tuesday. “You don’t see long-term changes in populations over one or two or three years. Here you can establish some long-term trend data.”
The information gathered by volunteer bird counters is becoming increasingly valuable to the scientific community. Amy Cilimburg, director of bird conservation for Montana Audubon, said the data is being used to track everything from expansion and contraction of bird range to the effects of climate change.
“Two years ago the Society put temperature data at the time of the Christmas counts together with where we are finding birds,” Cilimburg said on Monday. “They noticed a pretty interesting comparison that more birds have been shifting their range north. Not every bird and not all locations, but when you look at the wealth of data, we are finding birds further north in early winter.”
Flath said the winter distribution of birds in Montana has changed in his time as an Audubon volunteer. He said some species of birds that had a northern winter range of Colorado are now showing up in Montana and Canada.
For birders, the chance to see those birds – and other non-resident species – is a thrill.
John Parker compiles the data for the Bozeman area, but also participates in the Three Forks count. He said it is not unusual for counters to identify more than 50 different bird species during the Three Forks count.
“In the winter, raptors are real visible. It is a good time to see golden eagles, northern goshawks and ruffed-legged hawks,” Parker said. “But what counters get really excited about are the holdovers and the winter finches coming down from the far arctic and the boreal forest.”
Parker said the occasional snow bunting, white-winged crossbill or bohemian waxwing can make a day spent in the frigid Montana cold a warmly-satisfying experience.
“When you are out there watching intensively for the whole day, you are likely to see some unusual birds,” Parker said.
Each of the Audubon Society’s Christmas bird counts covers an area define by a circle 15-miles in diameter. Flath said he organizes the Three Forks count to cover four quadrants within that area. The count will be broken up to cover areas roughly outlined by the city of Three Forks, the town of Willow Creek, the Madison River and Headwaters State Park. Those areas will also include Madison Buffalo Jump State Park, Milligan Canyon and Logan.
Volunteers are asked to count all the bird species they see from dawn until dusk. Flath said counters should dress in warm attire, pack a lunch and bring a pair of binoculars. Experienced birders will accompany all groups to help assist in identification.
“It is a great way to learn birds even as a beginner,” Parker said. “You don’t need to be an expert to come along.”
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