Long ago, children who lived near coal mines were well familiar with the role of the canary, even though it made them feel sad.

Before there were technological indicators of toxic fumes in the mines, miners took canaries down the shaft to where they were working. When the birds stopped singing, fell off their perches, and died, the workers lost no time getting out of the mine. The birds’ hypersensitivity to carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane killed them at levels too low for humans to notice.

It is reasonable to call the annual Christmas Bird Count, sponsored by the National Audubon Society, a similar bellwether for the environment of the western hemisphere.

Volunteers brave the cold and rain in North America, heat and insects in South America, to count birds in known circles – a total of more than 2,000 this year during the time frame of Dec. 14, 2006 to Jan. 5, 2007.

In numbers like this, growing from 27 counters in 1900 to 57,156 in 2005, it is possible to extrapolate changing conditions in increments so gradual they might not otherwise be noticed – like the canaries in the mine shaft.

Last year’s extreme weather conditions dramatically altered where birds were found on a continent-wide level, and the birds displaced by the storms were then discovered in out-of-range places.

Some western birds (Townsend’s solitaires, Franklin gulls, and western warblers and tanagers) were displaced to Atlantic Canada by hurricanes. They were seen moving back southward through the eastern states.

In other cases there were unusually high numbers of a particular bird species counted in an area, such as the astounding number of Gray Catbirds on many counts in northeastern North America.

The 107th CBC is expected to be larger than ever, expanding its geographical coverage and accumulating information about the winter distributions of various birds. The CBC is vital in monitoring the status of resident and migratory birds across the Western Hemisphere, and the data, which are 100% volunteer generated, have become a crucial part of the U.S. Government's natural history monitoring database.

For more information about CBC participation, visit Audubon's website at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc and click on the “Get Involved” link on the left-hand side of the page.

CBC compilers enter their count data via Audubon's website at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc or through Bird Studies Canada's homepage at www.bsc-eoc.org, where the count results will be viewable in near real-time. Explore this information for the winter of 2006-2007 or visit a count from the past. See if and how the state of local birds has changed during the last 25...50...or 100 years.

Experienced birders are welcome to participate in this year’s count, on Dec. 16, says Brock Hutchins, coordinator of the Peachtree City census, but cautions that it is not for inexperienced birders.

“We especially need to hear from people who will allow their property to be crossed or used for counting,” he continues. The circle is 15 miles in diameter and centers roughly on Sharpsburg or Turin, in Coweta County.

At the end of the day, birders gather to tally their finds and see the data being readied to post directly to the Audubon website. There is no cost to participate in the count, but a donation is required to have your name entered with the local survey.

Hutchins may be reached at 770-486-3715 and at brockhutchins@msn.com.

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