Join Audubon’s 126th Annual Christmas Bird Count and Help Protect Birds Across the Hemisphere

NEW YORK (December 14, 2025) — The Nationwide Audubon Society invitations fowl lovers and group scientists throughout the Western Hemisphere to take part within the 126th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, going down December 14 via January 5. Greater than 2,800 rely circles from Canada to Chile will collect vital knowledge to tell conservation methods and assist shield birds in a quickly altering local weather.  

“Audubon’s Christmas Chook Rely permits group scientists to hitch a legacy of greater than twelve many years of conservation,” stated Dr. Ben Haywood, Audubon’s director of group science. “Including to such a long-term dataset helps conservation scientists higher perceive the state of the birds and the way we are able to enhance our efforts to guard them and the locations they want.” 

Every rely takes place in a 15-mile-wide circle and is led by a compiler chargeable for safely organizing volunteers and submitting observations on to Audubon. Inside every circle, members tally all birds seen or heard that day — not simply the species but in addition complete numbers to offer a transparent concept of the well being of that exact inhabitants.  

When mixed with different surveys just like the Breeding Chook Survey, Audubon’s Christmas Chook Rely helps present an image of how fowl populations have modified over the previous century, a long-term perspective that’s essential for shielding birds and their habitat. These knowledge have been cited in additional than 300 peer-reviewed articles, together with a 2019 research in Science that documented the lack of practically three billion North American birds since 1970.    

The rely can be used to measure how birds are responding to local weather change. A 2022 Audubon study used 90 years of Christmas Chook Rely knowledge to point out how fowl ranges have shifted over time, serving to prioritize conservation efforts in areas which can be vital for birds in the present day and in a climate-altered future. With two-thirds of North American bird species at increasing risk of extinction by the end of this century, the info are extra vital than ever.   

The primary rely circles had been situated in 25 places throughout america and Canada. This system has since expanded to greater than 2,800 circles throughout america, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. Final yr’s 125th Audubon Christmas Bird Count included 35 species in newly established circles in Peru that had not beforehand been encountered. In america, members additionally noticed “late lingerers” corresponding to Black-and-white Warblers, which usually spend the winter within the tropics, staying in america attributable to a milder winter.  

There is no such thing as a charge to take part within the Audubon Christmas Chook Rely. To enroll, discover the circle nearest you and register together with your native compiler at www.christmasbirdcount.org. All knowledge have to be submitted via the official compiler to be added to the census.   

About Audubon  

The Nationwide Audubon Society is a number one nonprofit conservation group with 120 years of science-based, community-driven influence, devoted to defending birds and the locations they want, in the present day and tomorrow. Birds are highly effective indicators of our planet’s well being, performing as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and encourage motion. Audubon works throughout the Western Hemisphere, pushed by the understanding that what is nice for birds is nice for the planet. Via a collaborative, bipartisan method throughout habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives significant and lasting conservation outcomes. With 800 workers and over 1.9 million supporters, Audubon is a dynamic and ever-growing drive dedicated to making sure a greater planet for each birds and other people for generations to come back. Study extra at www.audubon.org and on Fb, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety. 

Media Contacts: 

Nicolas Gonzalez, nicolas.gonzalez@audubon.org 

Non-Media Inquiries: cbcadmin@audubon.org