1) First of all, find out if you live in our Audubon Count Circle. To give you a rough idea, our circle’s epicenter is at County Roads 20 and 12, and extends for a radius of 7.5 miles in all directions. If you think your feeder is within the count circle, text, call or email our Christmas Birdcount Chair, Joe Sausen (651-210-4368 or joe.c.sausen@gmail.com) to sign-up. Joe is happy to entertain all questions you might have. The count must be done on December 18.
2) Write down name, date, address of feeder, start time, end time, weather conditions, temperature and number of hours counted.
3) Keep a list of what birds come at one time to the feeder. For example: if you see a chickadee come to the feeder, that’s one chickadee. If it flies away, and another chickadee comes, that’s still one chickadee—unless you know for sure it is a different bird than the last one. If it flies away and two chickadees fly in, now you have two chickadees.
4) Some birds show distinctive male and female plumages—for example, cardinals. If you first see a male cardinal, and then later, a female cardinal, you have two cardinals. The same is true for woodpeckers., and for nuthatches (though subtle—males have black caps, females have gray caps.)
5) For tricky identifications, use a field guide, or try one of the on-line identification sites. Cornell University has good sites,
6) Phone in or email your count to Joe Sausen (651-210-4368 or joe.c.sausen@gmail.com).
TIP: stock your feeders several weeks ahead of the count to give the birds time to find the feeders and establish a routine of visiting. Multiple feeders with different kinds of seeds, suet and peanut butter will attract more birds. Keep them continuously filled so birds know there’s good things to eat at your café.
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