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CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. A few interested residents will rise from their warm beds and bundle up to count birds long before dawn next Saturday - continuing a 57 year tradition.
The birders will collect data about species and populations for the northern Westchester region, a count that has yielded surprising data about our effect on the natural world. The Peekskill Christmas Bird Count collects data for the National Audubon Society. Northern Westchester communities, such as Croton, Ossining, Peekskill, Mount Kisco, Yorktown and Somers, are included in the Peekskill count.
It is almost as simple as it sounds - people count the types and numbers of birds found during the day. Citizen scientists range from those trekking through the fields before dawn to window watchers pledging to count the birds in their feeder between 8 a.m. and noon.
For field birders, the difficult part of the count is finding and identifying the birds.
Its very important to listen, and Im constantly scanning, said Charlie Roberto. Youll see a lot of birds leaving to go forage.
Birding is a notoriously quiet enterprise, a cough or loud voice could scare off the very avians youre hoping to count.
Other practices employed by birders to draw out the crowds include pishing. An accepted practice among birders, pishing is literally making the sound, Psh, Psh. Akin to a generalized bird call, the sound gets birds to come out and investigate where the sounds coming from, allowing birders a better look.
Even though its all volunteer, we have data for 57 years in the area. You see definite trends. You may have seen a decline in eagles, and then you see eagles come back. And you see southern species become more common because of warming, said Roberto.
Some of the more recent trends in birding, especially in Croton Point Park, include a drop in seagull varieties since the capping of the dump. Over the life of the count, grassland species of birds have dropped.
Michael Newhouse, one of the compilers for the bird count and a Natural Resources field specialist, said the count teaches them about urban sprawl.
We see different trends changing as urbanization increases. What species are actually in the area," he said. "I think in general our count assists with a larger problem, looking at overall species abundance and how the populations are changing.
Every bird count is conducted in overlapping circles. There are five in or around Westchester that help compile data about bird populations. Bird counts are made up people counting, compilers and count editors. The data is submitted to the National Audubon Society.
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