Bird watchers discuss changes in trends at annual Christmas bird count |

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Bird watchers discuss changes in trends at annual Christmas bird count


According to the Audubon Society’s website, orinthologist Frank Chapman organized the first Christmas bird count in 1900. The activity was an alternative to the “side hunts” which were popular at the time, the goal of which was to shoot as many animals as possible. The first count featured 27 birders and stretched from Canada to California. The birders made note of about 90 species. The tradition has since continued.

Ask Don Forchette when and where he likes to watch birds, and he won't have an exact answer. The Greeley resident said whenever he goes anywhere, he's on the lookout.

It started as a hobby in his boyhood home of Alabama, and it grew into a passion in college. He's been watching birds for about 50 years now, and when he moved to Greeley in the 1970s, he brought that obsession with him.

It's why he's taken part in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count for almost 20 years, a holiday tradition among birders across the globe. The count is sponsored by the Audubon Society, a New York-based conservation group, and an estimated 2,000 groups of bird watchers participate. The purpose is to provide the society with a cross-section of the bird population for scientific purposes.

"It's a citizen science type of thing," Forchette said. "You're doing something to provide a service. (Scientists) like to know what's happening."

Forchette himself isn't a scientist, but he has been bird watching in Greeley long enough to notice a few trends.

At the bird count Saturday, Forchette saw 25 different species of birds. That's average these days, he said, but he thinks there were probably more in years past.

"It makes you wonder how many were around 50 years ago," he said. "That's because we're changing their habitat. There's not the diversity that there used to be."

Paul Lightsey, who has organized the count in Greeley for years, said he's seen changes in the bird population, as well. He cited the example of the Eurasian collared dove, an invasive species that appeared in America in the 1990s. It has since become a very common sight in the Greeley area.

He said the environment and climate also might have an effect on the results of the bird count.

"We're seeing a trend of birds being slightly north of where their habitat used to be this time of year," Lightsey said. "And years ago, we used to see a large quantity of bald eagles coming down from Canada, but now we don't."

Lightsey speculated that might be due to warmer temperatures farther north, but he wasn't sure. The bird count is still citizen science, and most of the people involved are not professional scientists. Lightsey said the results of the count are submitted to the Audubon Society where environmental scientists analyze the day's findings.

"Environmentalists are very controlled in doing their observations," he said. "(The count) isn't as controlled, but it makes up for it in its input overall."

For Forchette, the count is about feeding a passion. It went well this year, he said, and it featured the rare appearance of a golden eagle. But he acknowledged it isn't for everyone — he has four daughters, he said, none of whom inherited his passion.

"It's only (fun) if you're a bird watcher," he said with a laugh. "Otherwise it's like watching paint dry."