Calgary's birding community gathers for annual Christmas Bird Count Sunday

Hundreds of Calgary birders will be gathering Sunday for the annual Christmas Bird Count, with the goal of collecting data on population trends and distribution of birds.

It’s also an opportunity for Calgary’s birders and naturalists to gather together and build community, said Matt Wallace, a freelance urban ecologist and coordinator for the count.

“People who have an admiration for nature and wildlife — we try to get everyone together so we can celebrate it,” he said.

Global initiative

The data collected, he said, is shared on a local, national and international level.

Volunteers in more than 2,000 locations across North America participate in the count each year, and the data collected makes up one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data, which is used by conservation biologists, environmental planners and naturalists.

The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 as an alternative to hunting birds at Christmas time, and has since become the longest-running citizen science project in North America.

Calgary’s annual count is one of the largest in Western Canada, with around 300 to 400 participants each year.

“We have quite a diverse group of participants,” Wallace said. “There are people who are brand new to birding … But we usually pair those people with the local experts.”

Among the more experienced participants are biologists as well as life-long birders. Some birders, Wallace said, are “really intense,” while others are more casual observers and appreciators.

“Calgary has a really strong birding community,” he said. “And it’s people of all different backgrounds and expertise.”

Newcomer to Calgary

In 2024’s count, 71 species and 39,446 individual birds were documented, but in the 74 years the count has been done in Calgary, around 115 species have been spotted, Wallace said. This year, a new species will likely be added to the list. 

“That’s going to be a northern mockingbird, which is a super rare bird for our region, and very rare for this time of year,” he said.

“Somebody reported it today. We got the location, and we know what to look for, so we’ll grab that one for sure, I think.”

For Wallace, the Christmas Bird Count is about connecting with and learning about the environment.

“You can learn a lot through just observation, and just feeling connected to place and community,” he said.