The Grand Forks / East Grand Forks CBC
For the Historical Records on the GF / EGF CBC, go to www.audubon.org/bird/cbc, then click on Historical Results. It is helpful to know that the code for our count is NDGF.
For a review of 100 species that have been recorded on prior GF-EGF CBCs, click here to open a Word file.
Summaries of prior CBCs can be obtained by clicking on the year:
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023
Instructions to Feeder Watchers, and discussion of species that have appeared on past counts is available as a Word file, click here.
For a photographic review and comparison of some common winter feeder birds, click here.
To download a form for feeder watchers, click here.
To download a form for field participants, click here.
To download a Microsoft Word File showing a map of the CBC Circle, click here.
The 2023 Count
The 2023 Christmas Bird Count will be held on Sunday, December 17. Anyone interested can meet for breakfast starting at 6:30 AM at the Northside Cafe. Final assignments of areas for field participants will be made then. A Tally Rally will be held at Dave and Cec's new home; see listserv email for address and details.
You can participate in the count by covering an assigned area, watching a feeder, or both. Areas will be assigned ahead of time via email. Please let Dave know if you will be participating. CBC results from across the continent have scientific value in documenting changes in bird life over time.
We especially want reports from those who maintain feeders. Several species are much more easily found at feeders than in the field. Simply keep a list of the species seen and the maximum number of each species seen at one time. The exception is when you can distinguish birds, for example, if you see a male Cardinal in the morning and a female at some other time, you should report two cardinals. Please also refer to the Winter Feeder Birds section of this site for a photographic comparison of some of the more common feeder birds, but also keep your eyes and ears open for anything else that may show up!
We welcome newcomers to the count, even those who feel that they are not yet skilled at identifying birds. A relatively inexperienced birder can help by serving as another pair of eyes, by keeping records, or perhaps by driving. No birder can be looking in all directions at the same time! Additional observers can be a great help! We will team an inexperienced person with someone who has participated before.
In addition to Count Day, there is Count Week, which includes three days before and three days after Count Day. Species seen on Count Week, but not Count Day, are still included in the final report. So, keep track of species seen beginning Thursday, December 14, and ending on Wednesday, December 20.
History of the Count
The Grand Forks, ND / East Grand Forks, MN Christmas Bird Count is conducted each year on the first Sunday following the 14th of December. The count is made inside of a 15-mile circle (177 square miles) that is centered on U.S. 2, one mile east of the entrance to the Grand Forks International Airport. The circle includes all of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, the Greater Grand Forks Greenway, the Red River for a few miles n. of Grand Forks/East Grand Forks, Kellys Slough N.W.R., a portion of the grassland/prairie in Oakville and Fairfield Townships, and a part of the Turtle River north of the Airport. Approximately 1800 CBCs are conducted each year. Most are in the United States and Canada, but in recent years counts have also been held in Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies, and Pacific Islands. Over 50,000 volunteers participate. CBCs were started over 100 years ago to provide an alternative to the "side hunt", a competition in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds. A typical CBC held today is an event that has social, competitive, sporting, and scientific aspects.
The first CBCs in this area were organized by Dr. Larry Summers who centered the count circle near Emerado. Those initial counts, held 1955-1958, tallied 7-13 species. After a lapse of two years, the counts were moved to the present location and were run by Frank Kelley under the sponsorship of the Grand Forks Audubon Society. Although the local Audubon chapter has become inactive, the counts have continued. A typical count now tallies approximately 40 species with the number of individuals approaching 10,000. The counts in total provide a glimpse of how bird life has changed over the last 50 years. The total species count is 110 on the all-time list.
Count data from all the CBCs conducted since 1900 can be accessed through the BirdSource web site at www.birdsource.org/uploads/9/6/4/8/9648235/2012_christmas_bird_count_rev.doc.
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