Bird count began in 1900
Published: Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 5:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 6, 2012 at 8:45 p.m.
The Christmas Bird Count was initiated in 1900 by Frank Chapman, bird curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and publisher of Bird-Lore, the precursor to today's Audubon Magazine.
At the turn of the last century, many people believed that the country's wildlife was an inexhaustible resource. In those days, hats adorned with bird feathers were fashionable. On a single day in Manhattan, Chapman counted 542 people wearing hats decorated with either entire birds or their plumage.
Also during that era, side hunts were popular.
On Christmas Day, hunters would choose sides then go out and shoot as many birds as possible, competing against other hunting teams.
Concerned about the future of birds, Chapman wrote about the side hunts in his magazine and proposed a Christmas "bird census" as an alternative.
In 1900, 27 people in 25 locations took part in that first Christmas Bird Count.
The concept caught on and has continued uninterrupted for more than a century.
Last year, more than 60,000 people from 20 countries participated in Audubon's Christmas Bird Count. More than 64 million birds representing 2,400 species were reported.
— Barbara Salter
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