Fifth Annual San Miguel Christmas Bird Count

It’s for the birds and our planet!

Sunday, December 16, 2017    7:45am – 12:30 pm
Meet in front of Instituto Allende,  Ancha de San Antonio 20              Free: pre-registration necessary.  audubondemexico@gmail.com
Questions:  415-119-4671

Whether you’re an experienced or novice birder, come help us count birds on Sunday, December 16!

Children age 10 and up are welcome, and if you have a car, please bring it.

We’ll meet at 7:45am in front of the Instituto Allende, form teams and carpool to the sites.

For 119 years, birders have been teaming up to count birds between mid-December and early January.   Join with thousands of other birders from Canada to South America in the longest-running Citizen Science survey in the world.

How does it work?

On count day, teams fan out to count all the birds they can find within a 15-mile-diameter circle. San Miguel is one of many circles in Mexico, and we count birds at three sites within our circle: El Charco del Ingenio, our beautiful botanical garden; a richly varied site along the Rio Laja, near the bridge at Cieneguita; and Peña Blanca, another bird-rich site a few miles past the Presa Allende dam.

Each of our three teams will send its bird-count numbers to our count compiler, Luke Rich,who will enter them online.

Why count birds?

The combined CBC data from all over the Western Hemisphere will provide a living snapshot of bird populations throughout the Americas, helping researchers study their movements and overall health.

CBC data was key to U.S. Audubon’s landmark Birds and Climate Change Report, which predicts that due to global warming,more than half of North America’s bird species will be forced out of their current ranges.

What to Expect

Each site that we will visit has varied habitat and we expect to see many species of migratory and resident birds, including flycatchers, raptors, songbirds, and hummingbirds.  It’s always a great day in the countryside, and this day will be even more so with your participation in the count.

Wear sturdy walking shoes and bring water and a hat. We’ll have telescopes and a few pairs of binoculars to lend. We’ll count for about 3 hours, starting by 9am. You should be back by about 12:30.

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER: 

Please contact audubondemexico@gmail.com to preregister with your name, phone number, and whether you can bring a car with room for fellow-counters.