12-19-12: Counting Birds For Christmas

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ChristmasBirdCount-1219.mp3

A popular American tradition before about 1900 was the Side Hunt. Hunters would traipse through the woods on Christmas day, shooting and killing whatever birds or other small animals they could find. They'd then haul everything back home to compare their kills. Bird populations suffered.

Frank Chapman, an officer in the Audubon Society, came with an idea for a new tradition: instead of killing birds, why not count them? The first Christmas bird count was held on Christmas day in 1900. It has been held annually ever since and is the oldest Citizen Science survey in the world.

Nathan Sterner joins bird enthusiasts Sam Droege and Taylor McLean in and around Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary to see what interesting birds they find.