TOLEDO AREA CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS (CBC) - FEEDER WATCH

Each year, the Toledo Naturalists' Association sponsors two local Audubon Christmas Counts in east Toledo and The Oak Openings region. These bird counts can be lots of fun and at the same time support the science of bird population study. Each count has a 7.5 mile radius in which to operate and is part of international census each year in which hundreds of areas participate.

If you cannot make the time or you simply do not have the capability or interest in participating in the all-day event, you may still contribute to this effort by counting the birds at your feeder. To participate,

• First, check to ensure that you reside in one of the two count circles below.
  
• Next, download a "Feeder-watch checklist" in one of these two formats - M.S. WORD or PDF
  
• Check the participation dates for the count - Toledo is December 14th 2003, and Grand Rapids - Waterville is December 21st, 2003.
  
• Count the birds at your feeder, or observed in your yard. Please count only the maximum number of birds at your feeder at one time to ensure that you do not double count birds.
  
• Fill out the Feeder-watch checklist (you can only fill-out the M.S. Word version) and email to tna@wcnet.org. If you do not have M.S. Word, simply type out your count information and forward to TNA's email.

For more about the local CBC's click here, for more on the international effort, go to the Audubon Christmas Bird Count site.

Some birds are easily confused due to the similarity in the species. One such set of species is the Purple Finch and the House Finch. Most of the birds in the Toledo area are the House Finch, for a detailed description of these birds, click on the Purple Finch at the right.

TOLEDO CBC COUNT AREA:

Center of count area is the corner of Navarre Avenue and Allendorf Road on the east side of the Maumee River (Oregon, OH). This includes "Little Cedar Point NWR" to the East which can be very good for water birds along the Lake Erie shoreline. Other good areas are Maumee Bay, Erie State Game Area to the north in Michigan, Woodlawn Cemetery to the west of the count area, and the open farmlands to the south. The areas along the Maumee River and the Lake Erie shoreline provide some very good habitat for birds in the winter.

GRAND-RAPIDS / WATERVILLE CBC COUNT AREA

The center of the count area is at the corner of Heller and Stiles road in Whitehouse. This includes areas of the Maumee River from Grand Rapids Ohio, Waterville and Northeast just shy of Maumee. Woodland areas include Oak Openings Metropark and the Maumee State Forest. Many areas of the river include rapids, so open water in many areas is the norm for the annual Christmas Count. Owls numbers can be very good in the forest areas.