Christmas Bird Count

General information about the Christmas Bird Count can be found at BirdSource (a joint project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

Next Spokane Christmas Count: January 2, 2011

Spokane Count Circle Center: 47° 43' N by 117° 25' W

     (A 15 mile diameter circle with its center at approximately Division St  and Francis Avenue)

Compiler: Alan McCoy

     Email: Alan McCoy
     Phone: 509-448-3123

New birders are always welcome to join the count! Please contact Alan McCoy for information about the Spokane count.

There are other counts in Eastern Washington. Find out when and where.

Participant Fee

For quite a few years the Spokane Audubon Society has paid the participant fee for all participants. However, the SAS has determined that this will no longer be possible. Therefore, each field observer participant aged 19 and older must pay a $5 fee to participate. For more information see below.

Christmas Bird Count Fee Policy

The count fees collected during each CBC help to cover the cost of generating materials for compilers, producing the annual CBC summary issue, and maintaining the CBC website and database. The policy follows:

 §       There is a $5.00 per field observer fee per CBC.

§       Feeder watchers and observers 18 years of age or younger are not asked to pay the fee.

§       Field observers pre-registering on a U.S. CBC for four or more counts pay a maximum of $20.00 for the four or more counts per season.

§       Refunds for pre-paying observers will only be given in the event of a count's cancellation by the compiler. In the event of an observer paying $20 for 5 or more counts, in advance under the new discount, no fee will be refunded if one count is cancelled. If an observer pays $20 for 4 counts in advance under the new discount, and one count is cancelled, $5 will be refunded to the observer.

§       Non-attendance at a count by a pre-paying individual cannot be refunded. This is considered a donation to National Audubon Society.

§       All paying U.S. participants and U.S. CBC participants 18 and under will receive a copy of American Birds: Summary of the CBC published once per year after the conclusion of the CBC season. This summary issue contains articles on the many ways that CBC data has shown us early winter bird population trends, as well as information about those that participate in the CBC. Participants can opt-out of receiving this publication.

Register and Pay Online:

All participants can pre-register and pay their fees online. Online pre-registration will close 48 hours before count day. Registering online saves the compiler a lot of time and it saves teams from having to fuss with paying and collecting the fees on count day.

      Here’s how: 

1. Go to the website http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/. 
2. Click “Get Involved”
3. At the bottom of the page click: “if you would like to register and participate on a count in the United States (ONLY) click here.”
4. Follow the prompts to register on the site.   Remember to write down your password!!
5. Choose the count circle that you want to do. Note that the Spokane circle is “WASP” (ALL CAPS)
6. Fill in the billing info ($5 fee) and print out the voucher and give it to the team leader as proof of payment.

Count Summary

About three weeks after the count check back here to see the results of this year's count.