Working Towards an IDEAL CBC 

Volunteers participating in the Seattle Christmas Bird Count | Photo by Doug Plummer 

by Hanae Bettencourt, Community Engagement Manager

Early this year, a message dropped into my inbox with the subject line, “Opportunity to make Christmas Bird Counts more inclusive.” The invitation was to join a work group of Christmas Bird Count (CBC) compilers and coordinators across the country to make local counts more accessible for wider audiences through a National Science Foundation pilot project called the IDEAL Participatory Science program. 

After a short application process, I was accepted into the first cohort of the program, and since April, I have been working with a team from NCSU, discussing ways in which to make the Seattle CBC a more inclusive activity for our whole community. This work has included a demographic survey of our current CBC participants, selection of a specific focal group for additional engagement, and submission of a project proposal. 

Since receiving approval of our proposal this summer, we are now in the implementation phase of the project, working closely with an advisory council made up of seven members of our chosen engagement group: young women and gender expansive people of color between the ages of 18-39. The input from this council has proven incredibly helpful in expanding our understanding of actions we can take to make CBC more Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable, Accessible, and Large-Scale (IDEAL) for the Birds Connect Seattle community.  

Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Beth Shepard | Audubon Photography Awards

CBC: C stands for Change 

Through this project several small but impactful changes are coming to this year’s CBC. Seasoned CBC volunteers will notice several additional route options on our registrations page. One of the new routes, the Downtown West route, is entirely accessible by Light Rail and allows for participation of volunteers who do not have access to a vehicle. Two routes have now been designated specifically for certain members of our volunteer pool, with the Lake Union/Queen Anne route being specifically for young adults under the age of 40, and the Montlake Fill/UBNA route reserved for BIPOC volunteers. And the previously heftier Ravenna route has been split along 25th Ave NE (Ravenna East and West) to allow for two teams to cover the same area more thoroughly. 

Additionally, this will be our last year celebrating our collective work on the CBC with the soup potluck at the Wedgwood Presbyterian Church. Next year, we hope to find a more central location for our after-count celebration, to increase accessibility by more volunteers across the count circle.  

Great Blue Heron | Ian Adrian | Audubon Photography Awards

CBC: B Stands for Birds 

Equity work is notoriously difficult and can, at times, be emotionally draining. But it’s all for the birds. The IDEAL Project is directly in line with Birds Connect Seattle’s mission to advocate and organize for cities where people and birds thrive. CBC is a powerful engagement tool for our organization, with over 325 volunteers coming together annual as a community of birders. The more volunteers we have engaged in the program, the more data we can collect, which directly supports the birds we love.  

Cedar Waxwing | Ewa Golebiowska | Audubon Photography awards

CBC: C Shouldn’t Stand for Christmas 

While there are many changes we can implement as coordinators of a local count, there is one large barrier that we cannot change: the name of the program itself, which is controlled by National Audubon. As we worked on bringing our individual project proposals to life, several IDEAL cohort members encountered an unexpected barrier when reaching out to new communities. Several members came to our check-in meetings with concern and frustration over the widespread confusion of the name, “Christmas Bird Count.” Potential volunteers mistakenly believed that the CBC took place on Christmas Day, or thought it was a program related to the holiday itself, and thus were not interested. Since neither is true, we agreed that a petition to the Board of Directors of the National Audubon to change the name of the CBC was important both in our work, and in the overall inclusivity of the program itself. A letter, signed by 14 members of the IDEAL cohort, was sent to the National Audubon Board of Directors as well as the team directly working with CBC at the National Organization in November. We are optimistically awaiting a response. 

Birds Connect Seattle NextGen Council members during the 2023 Seattle CBC.

CBC: C Stands for Community 

It has been a pleasure to work with other CBC compilers from across the country. It is easy to feel isolated in the difficult work of equity, diversity, and inclusion, but being able to connect with folks from Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Arizona, and more on a shared goal has been both humbling and awe-inspiring. I am proud of the work that we are doing as a cohort, and the changes that we are making in the Seattle CBC.  

All in all, success of this 8-month long project will be shown in two weeks, on December 15, when the Seattle CBC takes place. Will we welcome a whole new group of volunteers to the count? It’s not too late the register as a volunteer!  

The 2024 Seattle CBC is Sunday, December 15.

There are two ways to join the fun: 

In-Field: Join a team of birders and count birds along an assigned route. Volunteers who choose this option are typically out for a full day, from 8am-4pm. 

At-Home: Stay in the comfort of your own home within the Seattle CBC Circle, and count the birds that visit your yard and feeder. At-home counters typically count for 60-90 minutes on CBC day. 

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