GCA Club Members Flock to the Fields!

December 05, 2019

December 14th Starts The National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count

The Garden Club of America club members pulling on their boots and grabbing binoculars to be a part of The National Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count which begins December 14th and culminates January 5th, International Bird Day. Setting a record last Christmas, there were 81,000 volunteers who took to the field or watched feeders, as part of the world’s longest-running wildlife census (120 years), collecting invaluable data for research of bird populations and their habitats. Each individual count takes place within a 15-mile wide circle and is led by a compiler who organizes that count and reports the findings. Last year over 48 million birds were tallied representing 2,600 different species. Approximately five percent of the land mass in North America was surveyed.

The Garden Club of America clubs have a long tradition of conservation efforts to improve, restore, and protect the habitats critical to bird populations. In June 2015, The Garden Club of America entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Audubon Society. The MOU invited mutually agreeable projects at the club and zone level between GCA clubs and the local Audubon organizations. And this past May, The National Audubon Society celebrated the legacy of female leadership in environmental conservation at its annual Women in Conservation luncheon. The prestigious Rachel Carson Women in Conservation Award was presented to The Garden Club of America and Rose H. Harvey, former Commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

More information about the Christmas Bird Count can be found on the National Audubon Society website.

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