CBC Colorado Christmas wish list

[Diana Beatty]

Just for fun discussion:  

Linked below is a map of Christmas Bird Count circles.

Is there anywhere in Colorado you think should have one that doesn't?  Volunteer capacity and time are certainly factors, but if those weren't problems, where might we be missing?

Near me, I thought maybe a circle centered on or around Eleven Mile State Park could be cool.  Maybe it would also have Antero and Spinney within it.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

https://gis.audubon.org/christmasbirdcount/?_gl=1*161wzvj*_gcl_au*MTQzMzU4MzYxMy4xNzY2MzQzODc4*_ga*MjE0MzA1MzQxMy4xNzY2MzQzODc4*_ga_X2XNL2MWTT*czE3NjYzNDM4NzckbzEkZzEkdDE3NjYzNDQyNTIkajYwJGwwJGgw

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“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

[Brandon]

Since there are over 50+ Christmas Bird Counts in Colorado, and some counts don't get 10 observers on their counts, which they suppose to be (according to National Audubon, every year), I am not sure about starting new Christmas Bird Counts, that don't have a lot of birders, that live in the circle (the new count this year, Broomfield, probably have lots of people, since it is in northern Colorado).  I know several of our local counts down here, like Lake Isabel, Spanish Peaks, Rocky Ford, Pueblo, and Westcliffe (which we've discontinued since there aren't any birders close by), don't get enough of helpers (nowadays, they use to get more, back when they started), since there's not a lot of birders in these areas.  Please help these rural counts that have few people helping usually, and not try to start new counts in areas that don't have helpers.

Brandon Percival

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[David Suddjian]

To Brandon's point, it is interesting to consider counts that are under-supported by participating birders and those whose participation has declined. The number of birders has grown greatly, but it seems that the tradition of Christmas count participation has not grown similarly. The CBC culture feels different in some ways. I think some impact occurred in connection with the Covid-19 shutdown when many counts took a hiatus, and substantial growth in birding happened at that same time and in the following years. 

To Diana's idea for consideration, the corners of Colorado all seem depauperate in coverage. One fantasy circle for me would be focused on the canyonlands of Baca and far eastern Las Animas counties -- but no birders live there.  Those reservoirs in Park County she mentions -- all great birding areas -- are completely frozen in the CBC season and one of the state parks is closed for winter.  

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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[Diana Beatty]

Ah, that's true about the reservoirs being frozen.

Your fantasy idea would be a fascinating area!

Thinking about the difficulties in participation:

1. A lot of the counts are scheduled on the same few weekend dates, and people are more likely than not to choose their local one due to proximity and relationships.

2. Counts scheduled during the week lose most non-retired persons from participation.

3. Counts tend to avoid dates closest to Christmas thinking people would have holiday commitments competing for availability.

4. It isn't super easy to travel in winter to remote counts without many options for lodging and early starts.

5.  It can be a little hard for an average birder to know what counts are desiring new volunteers and how to join them unless they know the coordinator or see a message from the coordinator in COBIRDS or other commonly used forums.  A lot of them kind of feel mostly  closed to outside volunteers, and I don't know how accurate that is.

A few ideas if people really want to aim to improve participation that could be considered:

1.  More communication and coordination amongst coordinators statewide to develop a statewide plan of when counts are scheduled to maximize volunteer availability at different counts.  I do think coordinators try to honor tradition and avoid conflict, but I don't think coordinators currently have the ability to talk to each other as a whole group in a planning capacity?

2.  I wonder if Audubon would ever consider expanding the count window to maybe add an additional weekend in January?  Since people have lots of commitments in the holiday season maybe that would open some availability without hurting the scientific objectives?

3.  More tools for coordinators to easily invite and onboard volunteers from other communities in the state.  I don't know exactly what this would look like and I do think Audubon has been making some efforts and people like Brandon obviously help try to get the word out.

4.  One issue with out of area volunteers is that they may be unfamiliar with the area and less familiar with some birds there. I wonder if a system developed for non locals to easily plug in such as a map of suggested route and stops for each sector would help.

5. While we have increased interest in birding, the number and capacity of individuals to coordinate, lead sectors, and confidently ID, count, and use reporting tools is a bottleneck point.  A lot of birders are not well connected into the state birding communities, and may not even identify as birders or know other birders; and birding organizations in the state that have programs to train and build capacity are very few in number and location.  There are also likely issues of people who could step up not believing they are ready, not being identified and asked, etc.

While the number of birders has grown, this has not happened in an institutional framework; a great many birders do not even know there are Christmas Bird Counts that they could be part of, let alone any other events like field trips, classes,  or conventions.  

Maybe some kind of community awareness and count training for public consumption could help grow interest and capacity. 

 Enthusiastic beginners are great, but require someone to guide and manage them, and that can sometimes be harder than just running with the overly lean but seasoned crew.

The CBCs are useful scientific endeavors, but also tools of citizen engagement.  Maybe we could be engaging more citizens to some extent.

Diana Beatty

El Paso County

******

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

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[Ted Floyd]

This is an interesting and important conversation. I totally get Brandon's concern about prospective new CBCs potentially cannibalizing existing ones. But it's also a fun parlor game to brainstorm about where new CBCs might be located; maybe that was part of Diana's point? And then there's the bigger and weightier problem of the disconnect with basically flatline participation in Colo. CBCs in the face of surging interest in birding. Why is that?

Here's my take. The CBC is the grandest of Birding traditions. I actually have a piece on that in the Dec. 2025 Birding. Anyhow, I think this means that recruitment and participation rely, perhaps to a large extent, on traditional "old media," as they say. Not to put too fine a point on it, but: COBirds. Also: coverage in local/regional newspapers and television. Those outlets are not where most people under the age of 50 get their information anymore. So there's that. I think it's incumbent on "us" (peeps born before 1975) to go to where the "kids" (b. after 1975) are.

The other thing is, if I may be so bold, something of a problem with presenting all of this with, hm, a bit more éclat and verve—shall we say?—than some of us are accustomed to. Joey Kellner's posts are exemplary in that regard. I've never done his Denver CBC with him, but it's not for lack of trying on Joey's part. One gets the impression, from Joey's COBirds posts, that the Denver CBC is tremendous good fun. And it sounds like they have strong participation to back that up.

So: Go to where the kids are; keep it fun. Folks, this isn't that hard. Here are a few pics from the CBC season in the Front Range metro region thus far:

Upperclasspersons at Boulder High School scouting for the Boulder CBC, Boulder Co., Dec. 11, the first day of count week. We're looking at an American Dipper roost in this pic from the Boulder Creek path. We'd staked out two Wood Ducks a moment earlier, and we'd later go looking for the famous warbler flock along the creek.

My crew on the Boulder CBC, Boulder Co., Dec. 14. We'd just seen a small troupe of Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, scarce in Boulder. Great birders, all of them, but they don't, for the most part, get their birding news at COBirds, in the Boulder Daily Camera, or on Channel 7. I'm just saying.

Me and a birding companion on the Fountain Creek CBC, El Paso Co., Dec. 17. We're celebrating our discovery of an American Pipit, the only one seen on that count, I believe. I'm sure Diana will correct that if I'm wrong.
😁

My crew on the Broomfield CBC, multiple Colo. cos., Dec. 21. About an hour earlier, we saw the first bird—ever!—on the first-ever Broomfield CBC. It was a Great Horned Owl.

The best thing of all is: We're not nearly done with the 2025–2026 season! We're not even halfway there yet. There's plenty of time to get out there and find new birders for your sector. And check this out: Four years from now, or forty years from now, they'll be the sector leader or even the compiler.

Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder Co.