Year-long birding challenge that occurs once a decade is now underway

If you have a passion for bird watching, grab your binoculars and start counting because Calgary's 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge is now underway.

Organizer Andrew Hart told the Calgary Eyeopener that the challenge consists of "birders" identifying as many species as possible in a single calendar year and within a specific geographic area.

Nature Calgary, which hosts the event, says there have been two previous "big year" challenges in Calgary — one in 2000 and the other in 2010.

It's on a whole other scale than the yearly Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, which take place in many communities around the world including Calgary. In that one, participants conduct their counts on a single day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5 within a 24-kilometre diameter circle that stays the same from year to year.

There were also regional challenges in 2005 and 2015.

Those who take on the 2020 Big Year Birding Challenge will record their bird sightings in an app called eBird. the app is part of a biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world.

"In addition to having the fun of getting out and seeing the birds and enjoying the kind of the fruit of the challenge, you're actually making a contribution to citizen science by reporting your sightings into this database," said Hart, who is a past president of Nature Calgary.

He adds that the database allows people to track bird movements around the world, their migrations, population growth and decline. 

Right now, Dutch birder Arjan Dwarshius holds the world record at 6,833 bird species sighted in one year — which is approximately 18 per day.  

Hart says spotting so many species like this isn't easy.

"You can't just go out and decide to do that. You've got to have a plan," said Hart, who has been birding for 15 years.

"The person who won the competition in 2010 saw 240 bird species in Calgary in the course of the year.… He decided he was only going to count birds that he saw when he was not using a vehicle or transportation, so his legs and a bicycle."

Birding tips

For Hart, he says he's seen only 177 bird species in Calgary, which is more achievable for the average birder.

"The most fundamental tip is you're not going to see too many birds if you stay at home," he said.

"The No. 2 tip is if you want to see a diverse number of birds, you should be looking at a diverse range of habitats."

Hart says for those looking to explore a wide range of birds, Calgary is blessed with several different habitats, like the river, Fish Creek Park and a number of city parks.

"Each of these parks have something a little bit unique to offer to the environment and to birders, so you get out often and get out to different places," he said.

Hart adds that those who participate in the challenge have to make sure they stick within Calgary's city limits. He says eBird will reject a questionable sighting if it's outside of Calgary.

"As challenger organizers, we feel like we've delegated that part of the proof to eBird," he said. "When you report a sighting to ebird, it will immediately tell you if the bird is considered rare and it will also tell you if the bird is not seen often in that particular location."

Fortunately the chinook this week has temperatures rising above freezing to 5 C, making it easier for birdwatchers to begin their search.

"I think like most people I took a bit of a sabbatical last week, but then when it warmed up to the giddy heights of –6 or –8 or whatever it was yesterday, I was out with a number of my birding buddies trying to catch up," he said.

The best bird that Hart saw was a pileated woodpecker, the largest woodpecker you get in the Calgary area.

For anyone who wants to try the challenge, download the app, grab some bread and check out your local birds.  

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.