Christmas Bird Count (CBC) dates and contact information in the Berks County Area each circle is a 7.5 mile radius circle. The dates and contact info are below. If you want to help by counting birds at your bird feeders please contact the compiler listed for each count. Please pre-register with the compiler listed below and see the instructions for feeder counting to the on this page!
to zoom in and see details of the map of circles click on this link Active map of Christmas bird Count circles near Berks County, PA
If you click on any of the colored circles you will see the name of that count area.
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CBCs in the Berks County Area.
If you would like to help out either in the field or by feeder watching if you are in the cricle's area contact the individual count's listed compiler.
More about Christmas Bird Counts December 17, 2023 (Sunday) Reading Christmas Bird Count
Compiler: Lucy Cairns 610-223-4501 ljanetcairns@gmail.com
December 22, 2023 (Friday) Elverson Christmas Bird Count
Compiler: Jim Cook Cell: 610-587-7545 Work: 610-286-5021 jim@elversonsupply.net
December 30, 2023 (Saturday) Hamburg Christmas Bird Count
Compiler: Laurie Goodrich 570-943-3411 Ext. 106
January 4, 2024 (Thursday) Bernville Christmas Bird Count
Compiler: Mike Slater paplantings@gmail.com
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Each CBC circle covers far more than the named town please see the map and zoom in!
By Lucy Cairns, Compiler of the Reading CBC.
For CBC data to be useful, the rules for both counting birds and
reporting ‘effort’ data must be followed exactly.
CBC Feeder Count – A Guide
by Lucy Cairns
Compiler of the Reading CBC
Birds at feeders are likely to be missed by CBC observers out ‘in the field,’ so feeder counts add valuable data to the effort. The rules for doing a CBC feeder count are not the same as those for other feeder watch projects, and must be followed exactly.
The minimum feeder watchers need to know:
· Participants must register in advance with the compiler of their circle, providing their email address and the street address where their feeders are located.
· Count birds only on the count day. For the Reading CBC this year, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023 is count day.
· For each species, report the
maximum number of individuals
present at ONE TIME during your counting period. This is to avoid double-counting. So, if you have 12 House finches present at one time and 20 present at a different time, report 20 and not 32.
· You can include birds heard but not seen if you are confident of the ID.
· Include only birds using your feeder (which can include hawks coming to your yard in hopes of catching a feeder bird). Do not include birds outside your yard or just flying over.
· You can count for any amount of time, and for multiple periods during the day. Add up your time and submit a single checklist. If you stop focusing on your feeder for more than a couple of minutes, subtract that time from your total.
· Your report can be sent to your compiler by either using the Audubon CBC checklist form provided by the compiler or by sharing an eBird list with the compiler. Be sure to include your total time spent counting, rounded to the nearest quarter-hour.
The compiler for the Reading CBC is
Lucy Cairns
2000 Cambridge Ave, Apt 336
Wyomissing, PA 19610
610-223-4501
The CBC does not include birds reported as ‘sp’ (i.e., chickadeesp or sparrow sp) if any others are reported ‘to the species’ (i.e.Carolina chickadee or White-throated sparrow). Since the vast majority of chickadees in our count area now are Carolina chickadees, report any chickadees as Carolinas unless you are experienced at discerning the differences and provide a detailed justification for IDing a Black-capped chickadee.
Cornell's Project Feeder Watch has a good page on separating these two species when seen at your bird feeders
"History of the Christmas Bird Count "Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt." They would choose sides and go afield with their guns—whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.
Conservation was in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them."
From The Audubon Society's web site
Each Christmas Bird Count (CBC) endeavors to count :All of the birds" in an area in one day (24 hours) in an area defined as a circle of 7.5 miles radius centered on a specific point. Each Circle. Now Circles are not supposed to overlap, but older established one do Such as a few in the Lancaster and Philadelphia areas do.
In the Reading/Berks County PA area we have the following 5 counts that cover part of Berks County, PA
and nearby
Anyone involved in the CBC can submit photos taken during a CBC intothe online CBC photo gallery. Go to the CBC web page atwww.christmasbirdcount.org and click on Join the Christmas BirdCount. On the page this takes you to, click on the link in ‘Step 5.’Photos must be submitted by the original photographer so that termsof use can be obtained.
Please donate to support the Christmas Bird Count! We rely solely ondonations. http://birds.audubon.org/action-items/donate-christmas-bird-countThanks again for joining this important conservation project! Do nothesitate to email or call me if you have any questions.