Birders in Great Falls participate in citizen science project

Ten teams of birders set out in Great Falls Saturday morning to participate in the 125th Annual Christmas Bird Count, creating a census of numbers and species of birds, led in Great Falls by members of the Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Society.

Birders in Great Falls participate in citizen science project

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is one of the longest running global citizen science projects. Each winter, thousands of volunteers across the world gather within designated areas, spanning 15 miles in diameter, to count as many birds and species of birds as they can.

The Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Society has bird counting data from the same 15 mile area in Great Falls dating back to 1911.

The count provides statewide, continental, and global data to researchers about bird migration patterns, climate change effects, and overall health of bird populations.

Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Society member Beth Hill explains, “how the bird population numbers are changing. Not only that, but where the populations are shifting, you can see how populations shift this direction to the northwest, or to the northeast, or maybe they are not being seen at all. It also shows how the climate is changing. It’s warmer, they’re not going as far south, or they’re going further north”.

Montana has 36 potential bird counting areas, and data from 2022 shows that 31 of the count circles were surveyed by volunteers.

They tallied 133 bird species throughout the state, which was less than the average of 142 species from the previous eight years.

The count is available to participants at any level to learn from experienced birders about bird species and how to identify them.

This year was amateur birder Andrew Marciniak’s first year participating. Marciniak says, “There’s so much more experience than I have just looking in a book. Seeing, you know, the different sizes and different ways to look at them and pick them out. It’s been really helpful”.

At the end of the day, the 10 groups in Great Falls will come together to share their findings, which will then be analyzed by the Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Society.

To learn more about the Christmas Bird Count and the Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Society, click here to visit the website.

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