Scheduling & Reporting Hours: Depending on the specific project surveys may be done at any site the volunteer chooses (BBA, GBBC) or in specific assign regions (CBC). Volunteers may report their hours through this opportunity and mention the project and location in the notes.
Examples of Bird Surveys include:
- Christmas Bird Counts (CBC): Each winter, volunteers from all over the U.S. conduct bird counts for the National Audubon Society. Now more than 100 years running, the Count provides important data on the long term trends of bird populations in our area. Calvert County participates in 2 of these Counts. The Jug Bay circle encompasses the northern third of the County and the Patuxent River Count extends into the southern third. Count dates usually occur the third Sunday of December and the Sunday following Christmas respectively. More info on CBC here
- Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC): An annual project run by Cornell Lab or Ornithology that happens every February. Participants just need to spend 15 minutes counting the number of birds seen at their feeder or in their yard on one of the given days and submit through eBird. More info on GBBC here
- Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA): A four-year survey of the breeding birds of Maryland and Washington, DC. Birders are assigned very specific areas to search for all nesting species. Nesting behavior such as bringing material or food to a possible nest, or observing fledglings ready to fly, must be observed and recorded. The MD DC BBA has been conducted on 1983-1987, 2002-2006 and 2020-2024. The next MD DC BBA would be likely around 2040.
Contact Gene Groshon at gene.groshon@calvertcountymd.gov for additional information or to participate.
