A faithful Christmas Bird Count

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth,[a] and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?”

Job 12:7-9 NRSV

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26 NRSV

We are well into the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, which runs from December 14th to January 5th, every year. It is a remarkable "citizen scientist" event in which people go into the field to spot and count different species of birds, then report what they have observed.. 

In the early days of conservation more than a hundred years ago many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.

I'm a bit surprised that the "Christmas" part of the title has stuck, given the tendency toward  more generic terms for the season. And obviously the period has expanded over time. This pandemic year will curtail crowds of birders (we hope) but perhaps will free people to look and listen more attentively because they have time to do so.

It is becoming apparent that bird populations in North America have undergone drastic decline in the past fifty years, about 25%, or 3 billion creatures. How have we allowed this to happen? Habitat has been reduced and climate change has shifted food sources. In Central America the winter home of so many birds, forests are cut to become grazing land for beef cattle, a greenhouse gas double whammy. 

While the science of the bird count is important, so is paying attention to the birds of the air and the waterways and the forests. To do so is an active form of contemplation, of prayer we might say. And when we develop a sense of wonder regarding birds and all creatures we will be more inclined to respect and conserve them.

We have never registered for the bird count, and I'm not sure why. We do try to be attentive as we spend time outside and even looking out from our home. We have a number of birdfeeders we can see out the windows of our family room, and even at this time of year there will be upwards of a dozen species which visit them in a day. When we have guests -- few and far between these days -- they delight in what they see.  

I appreciate that it is still the Christ-mass Bird Count, After all, Jesus encouraged us to look to the birds of the air and reminded listeners that God cares for even the tiny sparrows, Surely we should pay attention to Jesus and the birds. 

God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets God's tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know God loves me, too.