As the most celebrated holiday of the year approaches and the excitement of gift-giving, tree decorating, and family gatherings builds, bird enthusiasts are preparing for their version of the Super Bowl: Christmas Bird Counts (CBC). This year will mark the 126th annual Christmas Bird Count, the world’s longest-running wildlife census. Christmas Bird Counts, much like Christmas, bring together a community with the sole focus of counting as many species and individuals as possible over three weeks.
History of the Christmas Bird Count
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Christmas “side hunt” was a tradition in which men gathered, split into teams, and went out to shoot as many birds (and other animals) as they could. The team that hit the most wildlife won! How festive!
This was around the time that conservation giants like John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Aldo Leopold were bringing attention to the impact people were having on our environment and natural resources. On Christmas Day 1900, Frank M. Chapman, an ornithologist associated with the newly formed Audubon Society, proposed a new tradition: counting birds rather than shooting them. And thus began the Christmas Bird Count!
This tradition has continued to this day, providing a valuable source of data on bird species and populations across North America and offering avid birders an opportunity to get outside and seek out birds in their region.
How Does the CBC Work?
The Christmas Bird Count takes place on the same 23 days each year during the Christmas holiday — December 14 to January 4th. Christmas Bird Counts are organized by location. Locations are typically 15-mile-diameter regions encompassing a variety of habitats designated by the state count compiler. Usually, a seasoned birder leads the Count, establishing the area for volunteers to survey. Birders are organized by those locations on a specific date within that date range. Teams are sent out the morning of the count and charged with the task of counting and recording every bird they see, from anhingas to yellow-billed cuckoos.
Teams drive, walk, and even count from bird feeders from the comfort of their homes. Some volunteers take small shifts, counting when they have time. Other die-hard bird watchers rise with the sun to call the owls, and call it a day after catching the latecomers to the local rookery at dusk. At the end of the day, the idea is that every bird in that location has been accounted for and recorded.
Christmas Bird Counts in South Carolina
Matt Johnson, Beidler Forest Center Director and CBC Regional Editor, does a fantastic job summarizing South Carolina’s counts. You can check out his summary of the 2025 CBC Summary from last year here. To summarize, in 2025, 30 locations in SC held Christmas Bird Counts, with 543,440 individual birds representing 225 species across the state. In the Port Royal Sound watershed, there are four active Christmas Bird Count events — the Lowcountry CBC on St. Helena Island and surrounding islands; the Sun City-Okatie CBC; the Yemassee CBC; and the Hilton Head Island CBC, which is the largest and longest-running CBC in the nation. Believe it or not, the HHI CBC started in 1900 — the year of the very first Christmas Bird Count!
Note on Birding Ethics
Christmas Bird Counts are intended to be inclusive events that gather valuable information about our avian friends. So it might be helpful to provide a bit of guidance on the ethics of birding and bird counting for those new to the work!
- Bird Identification: The Christmas Bird Count is part of a scientific record of bird species, which requires accurate identification of birds. If you can not identify the bird, it is best to leave it off the list. The data recorded can lead to more effective conservation efforts, and birds NOT included on the list may be just as important as those on the list.
- Technology Assistance: With new technologies such as the Merlin Bird Identification app (developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology), which allows you to identify birds with sound recordings and call in birds with playback, come some advantages and pitfalls. Here is some guidance:
- Rare birds recorded and identified by their call should always be confirmed with sight ID
- Bird call playback is considered stressful for birds because it’s usually a sound that challenges their territory. Call-back using bird call recordings should be avoided unless authorized by team leads.
Join a Christmas Bird Count
Birders of all experience levels are welcome to participate in an established Christmas Bird Count, but it’s helpful to understand what’s entailed and what you’re getting into ahead of time. You can learn more at the Audubon Community Science page. The Hilton Head Audubon Society is hosting an information session about their CBC event on December 4th – REGISTER HERE.
We hope to see you out there for this year’s Christmas Bird Count!