of year for birding in Beaufort County, especially when you
Increased involvement in the Christmas Bird Count
are trying to improve your bird identification skills. You can
strengthens the tradition, and being a part of this wide-
practice identifying birds that are here year-round, such as
scale project benefits birds throughout our country. The
northern cardinals, Carolina chickadees, and red-winged
2018 count had over 76,000 participants who saw almost
blackbirds, but you can also look out over
60 million individual birds. Everyone who participates
the May River and possibly see a
in the Christmas Bird Count gives us a better chance to
common loon diving for fish
identify and protect the birds that call the Lowcountry home.
among hooded mergansers and
Will you join the flock this winter?
double-crested cormorants.
There is another winter visitor that is seen in the thousands CAROLINA CHICKADEE 6 7 8 TA L L I E D LAST YEAR
during
the
Christmas
Bird
Count. Yellow-rumped warblers, fondly called butter butts, can be
seen all over Beaufort County. While there are differences in their plumage, you can always rely
V I S I T AU D U B O N . O R G TO L E A R N
on the bright yellow spot on their rear end that looks like
MORE ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS
a dab of butter, hence the adorable nickname. They are a
B I R D C O U N T A N D TO S I G N U P
great bird on which to practice your bird identification skills.
F O R T H I S Y E A R ’ S C O U N T.
However, we often have plenty of unique and rare sightings during the winter. Sandhill cranes, red-breasted nuthatches, pine siskins, and more beautiful birds grace our area either as a winter retreat or simply to pass through during the journey to their overwintering grounds.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I want to participate in the bird count! However, my knee just doesn’t let me walk around like I used to. How could I help during the bird count?” Well, that can be answered with one simple question: Do you have a bird feeder in your backyard? If you answered “yes,” then you are ready to go! The Christmas Bird Count does not require that you trek multiple miles to be able to participate. In fact, roughly one-third of the Bird Count participants in Bluffton and Hilton Head simply watch feeders in their backyard. The people who count birds in their yards are just as important as those that are walking, driving, or boating to find birds.
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P A L M E T T O B L U F F. C O M
RED-BREASTED N U T H AT C H 2 TA L L I E D LAST YEAR