Please join us December 14, 2023 - January 5, 2024 for the 124th annual Christmas Bird Count! 

Audubon's 124th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will be conducted between the dates of December 14, 2023 through January 5, 2024. The Christmas Bird Count occurs December 14 to January 5 every year.  Sign up to receive information and results about all of Audubon's community science programs through American Birds. 

Please note that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect CBC participation.  Pending local restrictions, many counts will be done under the COVID-19 guidelines sent to compilers.

To find a count near you, see the Arizona CBC schedule and the New Mexico CBC schedule and check out this interactive map.

To sharpen your community science skills, Watch this recorded webnair training video, sponsored by Arizona Field Ornithologists and taught by Troy Corman of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Also check out these helpful documents for additional insights:

Need some extra practice identifying birds? Check out this Photo ID Quiz for Beginner Birders 

Guide to CBC party miles and hours

Can I enter my CBC into eBird

AZFO CBC PowerPoint highlights

Tricky Finches

Prior to the turn of the 20th century, people engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt": They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.

Conservation was in its beginning stages around in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition-a "Christmas Bird Census"-that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.

So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to the inspiration of Chapman and the enthusiasm of twenty-seven dedicated birders, twenty-five Christmas Bird Counts were held that day. The locations ranged from Toronto, Ontario to Pacific Grove, California with most counts in or near the population centers of northeastern North America.

Want to sign up for a Christmas Bird Count in Arizona?  Check out the schedule and contact a compiler near you!

Want to sign up for a Christmas Bird Count in New Mexico?  Check out the schedule and contact a compiler near you!

Learn more about the Christmas Bird Count here.

Learn more about the Arizona effort through this video from the Arizona game and Fish Department.