more in Mississippi in recent years . The limpkin ’ s name comes from the limp-like walk it has .
Seeing birds rare to east Mississippi is very exciting , said Owen , who has been a bird watcher since she was little .
“ This is my favorite day of the year ,” she exclaimed of Lauderdale County ’ s annual bird count .
Altogether , 13 participants took part in this year ’ s census in Lauderdale County with 89 different species and 3,728 individual birds being counted , including Canada geese , wood ducks , great blue herons , black vultures , American white pelicans , bald eagles , killdeer , red-headed woodpeckers , blue jays and bluebirds , Carolina chickadees , northern mockingbirds and yellow-rumped warblers , among other species common to the area .
Besides her limpkin , a greater yellowlegs , which is a large shorebird , and a snowy egret were new to the Lauderdale count this year , Owen said .
Administered by the National Audubon Society and performed by volunteer bird watchers , the Christmas Bird Count , or CBC , is the largest census of birds in the Western Hemisphere conducted each year . It is considered the longest-running citizens science survey in the world .
The count dates back to Christmas Day 1900 at the turn of the 20th Century . At that time , it had long been a tradition to hold a “ side hunt ” on the holiday , where teams would form then go out into the fields to hunt birds . The team that killed the most birds within a set time limit was the winner , according to the CBC ’ s history on the National Audubon Society ’ s webpage .
In 1900 , naturalist Frank M . Chapman , who was concerned over the declining bird populations , suggested an alternative to the side hunt . Instead of killing birds , he proposed the teams see how many species of birds and how many individual birds they could count on Christmas Day . He invited other conservationists to take part .
Altogether 27 birders , including Chapman , participated in that first bird census , which took place in 25 different spots from New England to Canada to California . Together , the birders tallied 90 species of birds .
The count caught on from there with the National Audubon Society joining the effort . This year marks the 124th annual count and was conducted in all 50 states and 20 foreign countries between Dec . 14 and Jan . 5 . Lauderdale County ’ s count was held on Dec . 29 .
“ It is a rewarding experience ,” said birder Nell Covington , who has participated in the Lauderdale County census since it started 27 years ago . “ It is a good way for us to track the trends in populations over the years by tracking what birds we are seeing .”
She said the local count is compiled by the Okatibbee Creek Audubon Society chapter , which was formed in Lauderdale County in the early 1990s by a group of nature enthusiasts and bird watchers . She said participating in the national bird count was an extension of their group ’ s activities .
Data gleaned from the census is compiled and
www . meridianstar . com
Looking for birds to count in nature is sort of like a game of I Spy . Pictured , from top to bottom , are a northern cardinal , a red-bellied woodpecker , a turkey vulture and a limpkin .
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