Christmas Bird Count enlists help of citizen scientists

By PAMELA CODY
Special to the PRESS

The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center (BNC) played host to an annual tradition this Wednesday: the Coastal Tip Christmas Bird Count. Hosted by the Audubon Society, this particular bird count is one of the longest running citizen science programs, and contributes invaluable data about bird distribution and population around the globe.

The BNC’s naturalist educator, Javier Gonzalez, as well as a small group of volunteers gathered at the Center Wednesday morning to document the birds they encountered there.

This is the third year Gonzalez has done the Christmas Bird Count, and he explained what the objective of the count is. “These annual censuses are done all over the world. The one we’re doing here on the Coastal Tip is covering a 15-mile diameter circle that encompasses SPI, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, Boca Chica Beach and the Bahia Grande,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got birders covering 15 different sections within the circle.”

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