Home Sector Guidance – Cache Valley (Logan) Christmas Bird Count

Home Sector Overview

Volunteers are the backbone of the Christmas Bird Count and are encouraged to participate from home. The only requirement is that you live inside the Logan/Cache Valley watch circle, and that you pre-register (free). The watch circle map is attached so that you can verify whether you live within 7.5 miles from the center at Main St & Hyde Park Lane (US 91 & 3600 N).

Beginners are welcome, too – it’s fine if you only recognize a magpie! Also, you can email photos for help with identification or post them to our Bridgerland Audubon Facebook group.

Our website offers more details on how to report your observations and time spent watching – essentially you report the highest number of a given species observed at one time, and the total amount of time spent watching, be it a few minutes or many hours – the effort gets added up, the birds do not get added up because you might be seeing the same birds more than once.

Please verify you reside within the count circle:
Circle Map Image (loads faster)
New Circle Map .pdf (more detail)

to let me know if you plan to participate in the Christmas Bird Count Home Sector. you can participate by counting from home and/or by joining sector leaders from the Amalga Barrens and Benson wetlands to the Smithfield mountains and Logan Canyon. Short and long versions of the instructions can be found below, along with the Watch Circle map, and a new photo-illustrated checklist of common winter feeder birds for Cache Valley, by Chris Wilson. As long as you live inside the Watch Circle you can participate in the Home Sector.  The 15-mile diameter Watch Circle is centered on a vending machine on Main Street & Hyde Park Lane (US 91 & 3600 N).

Cache Valley (Logan) Christmas Bird Count Circle Map
per Bryan Dixon 2015

National Audubon Interactive ArcGIS map (No sector lines, opens in new window)
Cache Valley (Logan) Christmas Bird Count Circle with Sector Lines(A pdf that opens in a new window and can be zoomed)

This is the 124th National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, and the 68th year for the Bridgerland Audubon Society, and your participation is important to scientists all around the world.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Thanks!
Hilary Shughart
President, Bridgerland Audubon Society
Protecting the nature of Utah for people and wildlife.

Short version: Please email your information in this format by 4:30 p.m. Saturday, December 16, 2023:

Bird Count Data
Logan CBC Saturday, December 16, 2023 – Feeder Watch Datasheet
Observer Names:
Feeder Location:
Street:
Zip:
Email:
Phone:
Start Time:
End Time:
Count Findings List:
Species, Maximum Number Species
American Robin, 25
House Finch, 42

You can report anything seen or heard after within the 24-hour day, December 16. Please return Home Sector datasheets to Bridgerland Audubon by email, preferably by 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 16.  The information is the important part. We can still accept reports a few days late, as long as they cover birds counted on December 16.

Completed datasheets can be emailed to cbc@bridgerlandaudubon.org Any delay in return may exclude your data from the overall Logan CBC dataset.

Long Version:

Feeder Watch Survey Protocol How to Observe:

You can conduct the Feeder Watch survey using a couple of different techniques – Continuous or Sporadic:

Continuous

You can conduct your survey in one continuous block of time eg. 60-90 minutes or more. This method will enable you to schedule your day around your survey. You can conduct your survey at any time on count day. You could survey first thing in the morning and then continue about your business for the rest of the day, or leave it to last thing in the afternoon. This way the count need not interrupt your day too much.

Sporadic

If you are unable to devote a continuous chunk of time to the survey, you can conduct your count in multiple smaller blocks of time eg. 5-10 minutes. The benefit of this is that you may be able to better fit this type of survey into your busy Holiday schedule. For example, you could make multiple discreet observation periods by dividing up the Logan CBC day. You could spend 5-10 minutes watching the feeder(s) first thing in the morning; then you could conduct replicate 5-10 min observations every 2-3 hours throughout the rest of the day. At the end of the day, you will have multiple completed datasheets from which you can glean the highest numbers of birds observed for each species.

What to Record

For your convenience, a datasheet can be found at the end of this document for you to keep track of your observations and record your feeder count totals. Please email your results in this format and ensure to complete all parts of the ‘About the Survey’ section at the top of the datasheet.***

I have attached the Logan CBC Sightings Worksheet.

Here’s the BAS checklist by season, but it includes all birds in Cache Valley, it is not narrowed down to the likely backyard birds:

https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/birding-tools/checklist-of-birds-of-cache-valley/

Common Cache Valley Feeder Birds(with Images) (Opens in a new tab)

These are some of the most likely birds you will see in your own backyard with links to the Gallery at UtahBirds.org.
Each page opens in a new tab – Click on ID/Song for recordings and Other Photos for a comprehensive set of images:

Feeder Location

The bird feeder(s) that are being surveyed must be located within the Logan CBC boundary. Therefore, we require you to record the physical address of the feeder(s) being surveyed on the datasheet. We will double check the location of the feeder(s) before adding the data into the full count database. The 15-mile diameter Watch Circle is centered on a vending machine on Main Street & Hyde Park Lane (US 91 & 3600 N).

Observers

We need to know how many observers are taking part in your Feeder Watch count. This helps us give credit to those who helped gather the data and aids us in calculating part of the “effort” (in this case, numbers of eyes) used in collecting the data. We cannot accept your data unless we know how many people took part in your feeder count.

Time

It is vitally important to record the start and end time of your survey period(s) because we need to know the “effort” (in this case, time spent watching) used to count the number of individuals and species. Similar to the number of observers, we cannot accept your data unless we know how much time you spent conducting your feeder count.

Species

For the data to be accurate, it is important to correctly identify the different species of bird that use your bird feeder(s) and backyard. Fortunately, there are a limited number of species that occur in Cache Valley’s urban yards in winter and so with a good bird identification website, book or mobile App, learning the different species should be relatively easy.

Bird Identification Websites: (click to open in new tab or window)
  • All About Birds by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • eBird by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • Audubon Bird Guide
  • Bird Library by American Bird Conservancy
  • UtahBirds: Birds of the United States & Canada
  • Common Cache Valley Feeder Birds(with Images)

    •  

    Bird Apps to Download from Your App Store:
  • Birdnet Sound ID by Cornell Lab
  • Audubon Bird Guide
  • eBird
  • Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab
  • Merlin Bird Song Identifier
  • Song Sleuth
  • Smart Bird ID


    •  
    Number

    Home Sector observers should record the maximum number of each species visible (or within earshot) at any one time as the maximum count. You should not simply tally individuals each time you see them as you do not know for sure that they are different individuals. You may only have 2 or 3 individuals that depart and return repeatedly to the feeder(s). Therefore, only record the maximum number of individuals you see/hear at any one time. For example, if a single Black- capped Chickadee visits your feeder, then later two visit, and later still three show up at your feeder or are visible in a nearby shrub, your count for Black-capped Chickadee will be three – the highest number you see at one time, not 6, the total number of individuals seen. Remember, even if you don’t count any birds during your survey we want your data; zero is a useful data point.

    Bird Location

    You are not constrained to only recording the birds that come to your bird feeder, you can count any birds that come to your yard, including those that fly through or over your yard too. The majority of Home Sector observers will position themselves next to a window in their home or apartment where they can get a good view of their bird feeder. From that vantage you may include any other birds that you can accurately identify from the window.

    Gender

    It’s possible to distinguish the sex of some bird species by color. We encourage you to do this if you are confident in your abilities. When looking at House Finches, instead of counting 25 House Finches, we’d prefer it if you counted 16 red (i.e., adult males) and 9 brown (not adult males). That way, if you count again later and have 12 red and 20 brown, you’ll be able to say you had 36 House Finches because the greatest count of “reds” you had was 16 and the greatest count of “browns” you had was 20: 16 + 20 = 36. This of course does not work for all birds, only those that are sexually dimorphic.

    Finalizing the Datasheet

    Once your survey(s) are complete, please ensure all of the data you have entered on your datasheet is legible. The most important items are the ‘About the Survey’ section, the number of individuals of each species, and the effort taken to record those birds. If you did a single survey of eg. 60 minutes, simply ensure the maximum number of each species is detailed on the datasheet along with the start and end time, and the number of observers. If you did multiple short surveys, tally all of the minutes spent surveying (eg. 10 + 8 + 6 + 10 = 34) at the top of the datasheet and determine which of the surveys recorded the highest maximum number of individuals for each species and report only those. At the end you will have a list with each species listed only once with one number next to each that represents the highest number of individuals for each species observed throughout the time spent surveying.


    Common Cache Valley Feeder Birds(with Images)
    Download and print the count circle map
    Scan and return the count worksheet after you count December 16, 2023