By Christine Bruce
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is North America’s longest-running Citizen Science project, according to birdscanada.org.
People in more than 2000 locations throughout the Western Hemisphere participate in the bird count each year. Information is collected by thousands of volunteers, which then forms one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data. The results are used by conservation biologists, environmental planners, and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds.
The count brings out community members to collect statistics on as many different species—and individuals of those species—as possible over the course of a single day.
Rosamund Pojar is a local naturalist and the Smithers area’s local bird count compiler, and Frank McDonald is an avid birder, whose legacy is the establishment and maintenance of the Barrett Hat Trail Network. They spoke to CICK News.