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Contact: Nathan Charlton, 501-620-6751
Hot Springs National Park, in partnership with the local chapters of the National Audubon Society, Lake Catherine State Park, and the City of Hot Springs, will host its Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, December 19th, 2021.
Hot Springs National Park Natural Resource Program Manager Nathan Charlton is recruiting birders and other volunteers to participate in the event, including field team members and bird feeder watchers of all birding skill levels. “Backyard Bird Counts” are welcome this year for interested parties who wish to count using bird feeders in their yard. Due to state and local guidelines as well as social distancing standards participants are encouraged to limit the size of your birding groups to family or your normal social birding groups.
The National Audubon Society has been coordinating Christmas Bird Counts across the country for over one hundred years, and the Hot Springs National Park circle will add to that significant birding data again this year as teams of birders and other volunteers head out to identify and count birds in Hot Springs and the surrounding area.
The goal of the count is to record the types and number of birds within a circle that is 15 miles in diameter, over the course of a day. The Hot Springs National Park circle includes the park, the City of Hot Springs, the entirety of Lake Hamilton, and Lake Catherine State Park.
Last year’s count included over 8,000 birds from 103 separate species! In prior years the Hot Springs National Park Bird Count has tied for the highest species diversity in the state! Having that sort of information for thousands of circles across the nation gives citizen science the spotlight in studies about bird populations, migration patterns, and even climate change impacts.
Interested parties should contact Nathan Charlton at 501-620-6751 or Nathan_charlton@nps.gov. Registration for the event is free and due by December 17, 2021.
Last updated: December 2, 2021