Citizen Science & Bird Counts

The Hampton Roads Bird Club (HRBC) organizes a real, long-running Christmas Bird Count centered on a Newport News circle — the club's own site reports 2021 results of "48 observers (the vast majority of which were HRBC members)" recording "18,568 birds comprised of 123 species." This is part of the National Audubon Society's nationwide Christmas Bird Count, one of the longest-running community science projects in North America.

The same club has run its own Spring Bird Count in the same Newport News circle (13 sectors across the lower Peninsula) since 1995, plus a Winter Sector Bird Count at Newport News Park and a virtual Fall Big Day of Birding — real, recurring programs open to participants of any experience level, not just experienced birders.

eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology's citizen-science platform) is the modern tool much of this data collection now runs through — individual sightings logged there, including a hunter's own observations while in the field, contribute to the same long-term population picture that partly informs how seasons and bag limits get set.

Participating is a genuine, low-barrier way for both hunters and wildlife watchers to contribute real data, not just observe — contact HRBC directly for current count dates and how to join a sector team.