For nearly a century, the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count has provided valuable insight into the status and health of continental bird populations as well as the general health of the environment. Local birders will participate in the count on Sunday, Dec. 20, in a 15-mile circle that includes parts of eastern Coweta and western Fayette counties.

Count coordinator Brock Hutchins of Fayetteville said he would like to hear from landowners willing to let birders onto their property on the day of the Peachtree City count.

Rain or shine, from pre-dawn to dark, volunteers will be tabulating every bird seen in a designated circle 15 miles in diameter, with Turin, Coweta County, at the hub, Hutchins said. A number of feeder watchers will also spend several hours that day watching visitors to their own backyards.

The local counters will be among 50,000 volunteers participating in all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies and Pacific Islands. Approximately 1,700 counts will take place during the period Dec. 18 through Jan. 3.

The CBC is the longest running ornithological database, and continues to grow in importance as a means to monitor the status of resident and migratory bird populations in the western hemisphere. In 1998, for the first time, count data will be generated on-line through the BirdSource website, where an accumulation of data from 1900 to the present is currently available.

This year marks the 99th anniversary of an event that originated when 27 conservationists protested a Christmas Day tradition in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and animals in one day.

The Christmas Bird Count is not a time for inexperienced birders to hone their skills, Hutchins said, noting that many other opportunities are available locally for birding throughout the year.