Creating, counting, and celebrating birds in Pennypack

For over 60 years, Pennypack Environmental Center has participated in the National Audubon Society, Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Designated as an Important Bird Area, Pennypack Park is a permanent and seasonal home to over 100 bird species, including breeders and birds of concern. Thanks to count events like CBC, over 200 species of birds at been observed and recorded in Pennypack. Saturday, December 16, Pennypack Environmental Center (PEC) welcomes birders of all skill levels and ages to create, count, and celebrate birds.

Although now retired, former Environmental Education Program Specialist, Peter Kurtz, graciously volunteered his time to act as the compiler again this year.

Kurtz will lead a team of experienced volunteer birders who will be counting every bird they see or hear on specific routes within the designated 15-mile radius area known as Pennypack Valley (PAPV). The CBC is not just a species tally, but a tally of all the birds observed, giving an indication of the total number of birds that live/visit Pennypack.

Back at the Center, current Specialist, Stephanie Robinson, will support feeder watchers and beginner birders 10 a.m.-noon as they learn to identify and count birds. Size, shape, color, sound, and behavior help to identify birds with and without binoculars. The longer the birds are observed, the more their quirks are noticed, and their individuality shows.

While the Center is open, visitors are welcome to stop in 12:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. to make bird feeders and hang them outside for even more bird observations. All visitors on December 16 will be part of the nation's longest-running community science bird project and contribute their observations to over 100 years of vital data.

The CBC was launched Christmas Day 1900 and led by ornithologist and Audubon officer, Frank M. Chapman, who prosed the Count as a new tradition countering the Christmas Side Hunt, a contest to hunt as many birds as possible at once.

In the 100 plus years that followed, the information from this bird count and other citizen science data has been utilized to not just to document species, but also to tell their stories, and those of climate change, habitat losses and gains, and how to protect the birds and land. According to the Audubon’s CBC Media Advisory, this year, the CBC will “mobilize nearly 80,000 volunteer bird counters in more than 2,600 locations across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count utilizes the power of volunteers to track the health of bird populations at a scale that scientists could never accomplish alone.”

To join the CBC activities at Pennypack Environmental Center, visit https://Explore_PEC.eventbrite.com. All events are free and open to everyone.

If you are an experienced birder and would like to learn more about the count led by Peter Kurtz, email Stephanie.Hoffer@phila.gov. Stephanie Robinson is the liaison for the Pennypack Valley count circle.

No binoculars? Want a guide book? No problem! Pennypack has some to lend to participating counters or visit the Free Library of Philadelphia to borrow at Birding Backpack.

If you can’t join Pennypack December 16 because of date or distance, but want to participate, the count is held each year from December 14 to January 5. Use this map to find additional count events and locations.