A poof-tacular black-capped chickadee. Photo by Dexter Patterson.

The Madison-area Christmas Bird Count will occur on December 16th and will be the BIPOC Birding Club event for the month of December. We are leading the birding effort in Area 3 (the northeastern part of Madison, near the airport and the Madison College Truax campus).

Everyone is also invited to the end-of-day tally party hosted by Badgerland Bird Alliance (f.k.a. Madison Audubon) from 5:00-7:00pm at Goodman Community Center. This event is open to the public! Please RSVP here to give our hosts a head count for food, beverages, chairs, etc.

The Madison-area CBC is coordinated by Badgerland Bird Alliance with help from over 100 volunteers throughout the community. Christmas Bird Counts have been happening for over 120 years all over the country! New and experienced birders work together to visit a variety of parks, backyards, and natural areas to count up all the species and individual birds we can find.

Location

We will meet at Demetral Park at the 6th street parking lot (map here) and will bird from Demetral to Madison College along the Starkweather Corridor and back from 9:00 AM -11:00 AM. After that, there are opportunities to drive around our assigned area to look for species including Snowy Owls and Rough-legged Hawks near the airport (map for Messerschmidt Road, directly north of the airport).

What to Expect

Be sure to dress warmly since we’ll be outside for an extended period of time! We also suggest preparing for ice on pavement and dirt surfaces, so consider wearing ice trekkers or shoes with good traction.

Please note: If tromping around during the depths of December isn't your scene, but you'd still like to participate in the counting fun, sign up to count birds at your feeders OR count at the indoor bird-watching event at Olbrich Botanical Gardens via our friends at Badgerland Bird Alliance!

We estimate the total walking distance to be 4 miles long, starting in Demetral Park, walking through the Eken Park neighborhood to an accessible pedestrian bridge to the Carpenter-Ridgeway neighborhood. We’ll continue to Madison College, after which we return via the same route. This path is paved and moves through both park and residential sidewalks which can be icy at this time of year.

There is an optional, wooded portion beside Starkweather Creek that is a narrow, gravel and mulch path with the occasional tree trunk and knots in the path. However, this path is parallel to a paved sidewalk leading towards Madison College.

Species List

1. American Crow

2. Coopers Hawk

3. Ring-billed Gull

4. Downy Woodpecker

5. Red-bellied Woodpecker

6. White-breasted Nuthatch

7. American Goldfinch

8. House Sparrow

9. House Finch

10. Dark-eyed Junco

11. Black-capped Chickadee

12. Blue Jay

13. Northern Cardinal

14. Mallard

15. Brown Creeper

16. Wild Turkey

17. American Tree Sparrow

18. Bald Eagle

19. Red-tailed Hawk

20. American Kestrel

21. American Robin

22. Rock Pigeon

23. European Starling

24. Canada Goose

25. Hairy Woodpecker

26. Mourning Dove

Registration

Please register below to help us get an accurate head count of volunteers!