Audubon marathon ready to take flight.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

Turtle doves, French hens and lone partridges in pear trees get all the holiday press. But this time of year, birdwatchers have visions of falcated ducks, snowy owls and wayward falcons.

Those are just some of the rare visitors that may be spotted when local birders head out for the annual Christmas Bird Count on Sunday.

Sponsored by the Audubon Society, the bird count's title may be a misnomer: It is held on a selected day during the holiday season, and has been conducted throughout North America for 106 years. It's a daylong opportunity to see the tail end of fall's migrating species as well as the birds that winter here. And it allows birders to get together to share their enthusiasm, said Dick Lamster, a veteran Eugene birder who will be the official local tallier of this year's bird count.

Birding has become increasingly popular, according to recent surveys. The U.S. Forest Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported in 2004 that 69 million Americans watch birds, with 18 million people traveling somewhere each year to see them and spending $32 billion a year on gear and travel.

The annual census takes bird-watching beyond mere hobby. Birders will note every species they see - from common crows to swooping swallows. With any luck, they'll catch a glimpse of the unexpected, Lamster said.

Last year, he and his team were startled to discover a falcated duck on a Coburg pond - a stunning bird more common to Asia than North America.

"We've seen osprey, and they should be in Texas and California this time of year," he said.

In some parts of the state this year, birders may see snowy owls, which turn up occasionally from Alaska, and which have been seen from Portland to Coos Bay in recent months.

And that's the point of the annual survey, to provide a snapshot of birds in a 24-hour period. It's not hard research - some people call it citizen science - but the data gathered is becoming more useful as statisticians develop methods for screening out anomalies.

The annual Christmas Bird Count got its start in 1900 as an alternative to a hunting tradition popular at the time. Back then, Christmas tradition had hunters choosing sides, then going out to spend the day shooting wildlife. Whichever side had the highest body count, won.

Horrified by the loss of bird life on that day, ornithologist and conservationist Frank Chapman proposed a bird census instead. The first year, 27 people participated in 25 counts from Toronto, Ontario, to Pacific Grove, Calif. They counted 18,500 individual birds and 90 species.

One hundred and six years later, the tradition continues. Organized by the Audubon Society, the annual count now draws more than 50,000 participants in thousands of locations.

Last year in Lane County, 135 people spotted 134 species and a total of 82,000 birds. Statewide, there are 48 separate counts.

Here's how it works. Audubon groups designate an area with a 15-mile radius where they will conduct a count. They select a day to count birds within a three-week window from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5. The area is divided into sections, and teams of five to 10 people conduct the count from dawn to dusk. Some hardy souls curious about owl populations and with a good ear will go out in the pre-dawn hours, too, Lamster said.

The Eugene count occurs in a circle marked roughly by Coburg south to Spencer Butte and Fern Ridge Lake east to Kelly Butte.

Teams walk and drive their areas, looking for open places such as cemeteries or public parks where it is easy to spot birds.

After an often chilly day marking down their sightings, the group gathers to celebrate with a chili feed.

Last year, birders here saw more than 15,000 cackling geese, small cousin to the Canada goose; just over 12,000 dunlin, a long-beaked shorebird; and dabblers of every stripe: wigeons, shovelers, pintails, mallards.

They reported more than 100 great blue herons and great egrets, plus hundreds of crows and black-capped chickadees. There were hummingbirds and grebes, falcons and quail, kingfishers and vireos, and seven species of gulls.

When birders see surprising species such as the falcated duck with its bottle-green head, white neck and distinctive sweep of curving feathers along the back, that's icing on the cake.

"It's a treasure hunt for big kids," said Lamster, who has participated in the annual count for three decades.

The count isn't limited to people who can get out and about. Homebound folks with bird feeders can report the birds they see, he said. To minimize the risk of birds at feeders being counted more than once, home birders report the highest number of birds they see at one time, rather than a daylong total.

Lamster will compile the results of this year's count and submit it to the Audubon Society, where it will be added to national results. The long-running annual census lacks the controls that mark harder science, but the data is valuable for revealing trends, said Geoff LeBaron, count director for the National Audubon Society.

The count goes back 106 years, but the past 50 years are the most valuable because Audubon members have tried to use a consistent methodology, he said.

"It's always done the same time of year by the same people in the same place," he said.

Variables have made scientists leery of using the data, LeBaron said. Bad weather can keep people from participating or keep birds hunkered down, for example. But new statistical techniques have helped researchers deal with annual variability, making the bird population information more attractive, he said.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service turned to Christmas count data in the 1980s when hunters began reporting declines in the American black duck population, LeBaron said. "They were able to document that the black ducks were declining and were able to alter the bag limits because of it," he said.

The bird census also allows researchers to see how bird ranges change. The count can be used to gauge the health of habitat for species that depend on specific water, forest or thicket conditions, he said.

The U.S. Geological Survey's wildlife research center in Maryland keeps the Audubon bird count data on its Web site for researchers.

Other groups look to the annual count as a model, LeBaron said. Gardeners, butterfly enthusiasts and divers interested in tropical fish have all been enlisted to collect data, he said.

People can still sign up for the count, Lamster said. The local Audubon Society requests a $3 donation.

COUNTING BIRDS

Lane County birders will be out noting the number and diversity of species on Sunday. Here's how to get involved:

Join a team assigned to a specific area; call Barbara Gleason at 345-0450

Feeder watchers can call Herb Wisner at 344-3634

CAPTION(S):

House finches and American goldfinches flock to a feeder in Eugene. Homebound people can take part in the bird count by tallying the largest number of birds at their feeders at one time. Dick Lamster watches birds from the deck of his Fox Hollow Road home south of Eugene. Lamster will be the official tallier of this year's bird count.