The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the nation’s longest-running community science bird project will be taking place at Badlands National Park on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 at 7:45 a.m. meeting at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center located at 25216 Ben Reifel Road, Interior, SD 57750.
Conservationists initiated the project as a way of promoting conservation by counting, rather than hunting, birds on Christmas Day of 1900. Some counts have been running every year since then and the CBC now happens in over 20 countries in the western hemisphere! Now a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 120 years of community science involvement, it is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada (where Audubon partners with Birds Canada), and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds.
All Christmas Bird Counts are conducted between December 14 to January 5, inclusive dates, every year. Each circle compiler will choose a single calendar day within those dates and your CBC birding is done on only one calendar day for each circle.Participation in this event is free. However, you will need to provide your own transportation, binoculars, and weather appropriate clothing. Birders of all skill sets are involved and encouraged to participate. If you are a beginning birder, your compiler will pair you with an expert initially.
For more information about the CBC and the National Audubon Society, visit https://www.audubon.org/answers-your-top-questions-about-christmas-bird-count.
Please contact Nancy Drilling at (605) 791-0459 to RSVP your attendance to this event. Check the weather and dress appropriate for the weather.
