Eighty-three Citizen Scientists braved below freezing temperatures this past Sunday morning to count birds in New York City’s Central Park, where the Audubon bird census began on Christmas Day in 1900.
The longest running wildlife survey in the world, Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) has continued through World Wars I and II and The Great Depression, providing data that reveals trends in the ecosystems we share with birds.
Warm temperatures this autumn may have played a role in a low count in Central Park this year, which tallied 3, 286 birds – 3,000 fewer than last year.
Last year’s count shattered records. A total of 2,215 counts and 62,624 people tallied over 60 million birds. Counts took place in all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, plus 107 count circles in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands.
Read more from the original article here