• Sierra del Carmen

    Big Bend

    National Park Texas

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  • PANTHER JUNCTION VISITOR CENTER TEMPORARY CLOSURE

    The Panther Junction Visitor Center will be closed Tuesday May 28 and Wednesday May 29 for needed maintenance. Information, backcountry permits, and entrance fee payments can be taken care of at the Chisos Basin Visitor Center.

Christmas Bird Count

Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Golden-fronted woodpecker
NPS Photo/Cookie Ballou
 

The Christmas Bird Count is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society. It is an early winter bird census, where volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. It's not just a species tally-all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day. All individual CBC's are conducted in the period from 14 December to 5 January (inclusive dates) each season, and each count is conducted in one calendar day.

Big Bend National Park holds two bird counts annually in the week between Christmas and New Years day. One focuses on a circle in the Chisos Basin, the other in the Rio Grande Village area.

 

2011 Christmas Bird Count Results:

Did You Know?

Amon Carter Peak

Carter Peak (5,479'/1,670m), in the middle of the Window, is named for Amon Carter. Carter was instrumental in the movement to establish Big Bend as a national park. Through his Fort Worth newspaper the general public learned of the scenic qualities of the Big Bend.