Our feathered friends, big and small, will be counted this Sunday, Dec. 18.

Volunteers participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) and will be out in force in Oneida County, counting and identifying as many birds as they can to help provide valuable data about the health of birds in our area.

Each volunteer has a 15-mile-wide circle they are responsible for.

This year marks the 123rd CBC. Audubon’s CBC is one of the longest-running wildlife censuses in the world. The number of bird counters has grown by the thousands and encompasses parts of the United States, Canada and many other countries where volunteers go out over a 24-hour period to count birds.

The first CBC happened on Christmas Day in 1900. Instead of hunting birds, Frank Chapman, an ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, thought it would be better to simply count birds and then examine the results. Chapman and 26 volunteers went out an identified 90 species in 25 locations.

Why is it important to have a bird count? The technical answer is it is important data about bird population trends that helps with conservation efforts. This year the count takes place between Wednesday, Dec. 14, and Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023.

“Within each circle, participants tally all birds seen or heard that day—both the species count and the total numbers of each, to provide a clear idea of the health of that particular population,” according to the National Audubon Society.

A healthy band of counters will be out this Sunday in and around the Rome are, tallying birds in their 15-mile-wide circle.

If you happen to see someone pulled over to the side of the road at the trees with binoculars writing in a pad of paper this Sunday, more than likely they are counting birds in the area.