The annual Christmas Bird Count is returning once again this year.
The count – part of an international conservation initiative – is set for Dec. 16 in the Hay River area.
Gary Vizniowski, a local birder, organizes the count in Hay River and compiles the results.
Vizniowski noted the count is held in the same area with the same centre and same radius.
"It's that way every year," he said. "That way they can use it for comparison from year to year to year."
The count in Hay River takes place within a designated circle, which is 24 kilometres in diameter and centred on the communication towers south of the Hay River Regional Health Centre.
The circle was created in the 1970s and has remained unchanged since then.
While the area remains constant, the date of the count can change, but must be held between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
Vizniowski said it seems the group of Hay River counters like to do it on the first weekend after the count period starts.
"So we always pick the first weekend," he said. "And some of the key people I talk to like Saturday. So that's why we went with Saturday, the 16th."
Last year, an average number of eight or nine people participated.
Vizniowski said it would be nice to see more participants this year in the two categories of counters – birdfeeder watchers and those who travel around the community.
"We've got some dedicated feeder watchers and hopefully we'll get a few more of those," he said. "Usually, not too many people travel around. There are not a lot of avid birders in town. There are lots of avid feeder watchers, but not a lot of avid birders that are out looking for them."
In mid-December last year, 579 birds from 15 species were counted in the Hay River area, compared to 709 birds from 17 species in the previous count on Jan. 2, 2016.
The first Christmas Bird Count in Hay River was held in 1977, and it has been held off and on since then.
Vizniowski has organized the count and compiled the data since 2006.
Started in 1900 in the United States, the Christmas Bird Count now includes more than 2,000 locations throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Each year, Bird Studies Canada and the National Audubon Society help co-ordinate and support the efforts of more than 2,500 counts.
Christmas Bird Counts are run across Canada and the United States, as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and on some Pacific Islands.
Surveying year-after-year contributes long-term information on how winter birds are faring.
"Every Christmas Bird Count participant is an important part of this valuable project for birds," states Liz Purves, the Christmas Bird Count co-ordinator with Bird Studies Canada, in a news release. "Whether you participate for bird conservation, for some friendly birding competition, or for an excuse to get outside in the winter, your efforts are meaningful for birds."