Floofy bird alert! The songbird splendor is in full force right now as birds sing in their bright breeding feathers across the country. Matching a brilliant blue sky, male indigo buntings are one of the species serenading much of the Eastern United States from the treetops. Indigo buntings are expert travelers, wintering in south Florida to northern South America, but coming north to breed. They migrate their impressive 1,200 miles each way at night, using the stars as their guide. Noticing and appreciating our feathered neighbors is a perfect way to celebrate spring. What birds are you seeing? Photo by N. Lewis, National Park Service.
Grab your binoculars! Kanab Youth Assist Audubon with Community Science
Story and photos by Hannah Cowan, BLM Utah
Each year, from December 14 through January 5, volunteers across North and South America partake in the annual Christmas Bird Count. This citizen-science wildlife-census helps the Audubon assess the health of bird populations and provides data to guide conservation action.
In southern Utah, the Christmas Bird Count has become a community tradition – enjoyed by volunteers of all ages. BLM Wildlife Biologist Lisa Church organizes the Kanab volunteers, who identified a fifteen-mile circle that spans state boundaries, crosses into Wilderness Study Areas, and even includes the local airport.
We caught up with Church, the Kanab Field Office, and nine local students to visit a community pond called the Jackson Flat Reservoir. Located only three miles from Kanab, the reservoir is nothing short of spectacular and is home to dozens of species of birds. Hawks soar overhead, looking for their next meal, as flocks of ducks fish in the depths of the reservoir.
“I’ve been doing this since I was a baby,” said a six-year old girl. She excitedly weaves between sagebrush, binoculars in hand, counting the ducks off to our right. “My big sister and brother are really good!” she exclaims. Clearly, this is a family tradition. And, she’s right! Without pause, her sister and brother are able to identify birds at a distance.
“It’s super fun to get out in nature and to know which birds are which. And, you kind of get to brag to your friends when you know what a bird is and they don’t, and it’s kind of a good thing,” said the six-year old’s big sister. This young-adult clearly formed a connection to nature from a young age . ““I’ve been doing this as long as I can remember, as long as I could count and see birds,” she adds.
The town of Kanab is located where popular bird migratory paths cross. Nearby, the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument works with the Hummingbird Monitoring Network to collect information about hummingbird populations following popular migratory routes. The area is abundant in the avian fauna with recent sightings of: red-winged blackbird, great blue heron, bald eagle, ring-neck duck, western meadowlark, ruddy duck, double-crested cormorant, northern harrier, snow goose, spotted sandpiper, and the northern flicker.
“You can be a part of the whole STEM ethic that the kids are so excited about. This is real science. This is data that we’ve used to not only to help delist bald eagles, but to help with peregrine recovery. It’s helped with the black duck in the United States. This is real data and this is real information that we use as part of our daily analysis. It’s valuable to us and is pertinent to the things we are doing here in Kanab”, said Church.
The BLM values the thousands of volunteers who offer their time, skills and service to help care for the nation’s natural and cultural resources. Volunteers contribute to many BLM program areas, including recreation, wild horses and burros, cultural/historical resources, and environmental education/interpretation.
Yes that’s correct, the bird is the word! It’s National Bird Day! Now if only we can figure out what that is?!?!? Luckily we have www.nationalbirdday.com to help us understand what’s going on here and January 5th is a time for us to appreciate and show our respect for the inspiration that birds bring us and understand what birds need from us in general. Here is a direct quote from their site. “National Bird Day is on January 5 each year, as it's scheduled to coincide with the end of the annual Christmas Bird Count. The Christmas Bird Count has been going on for more than a decade. It lasts three weeks and is the longest running citizen science survey in the world that helps to monitor the health of our nation’s birds. Birders and the public go out and count as many birds as they can see during the count. The reason National Bird Day falls on January 5 is that, for three weeks, the country is focused on native birds and wild populations. Once that period ends, we begin to focus on captive birds (who mainly consist of bird species that are native to other countries, but who are kept in captivity in the U.S.). January 5 is the new beginning for captive birds!” You can find more info about national bird day on their website! Happy National Bird day. Nationalbirdday.com for more info #NationalBirdDay #Birds #Animals #BirdIsTheWord #BirdCount
The Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) runs from Feb 14-17, 2025, which is an unique opportunity to get the family involved in this popular hobby to record bird sightings. This international annual Bird Count unites the world in connecting to birds and has expanded every year involving more and more people across the globe.
Blue Bird perching in my Sycamore tree observing my bird feeder
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