Salt Lake City Christmas Bird Count

Compiler: Ian Batterman - 920.360.0805 (Talk & Text) -

Every year since Christmas Day, 1900, citizen scientists  have conducted a winter bird count. Between December  14 and January 5, bird watching teams from around the  Americas continue to participate in the Christmas Bird  Count (CBC). The Salt Lake CBC is held the first Saturday  of the CBC count period; this year the count will be held  on December 18. While CBCs have been conducted  in Utah since 1904, the SLC count is of uncertain  provenance but is certainly the oldest continuing count  circle in Utah.  

The SLC count circle is Utah’s most volunteered circle.  We had 134 participants last year! The circle is centered  at the Salt Lake City Temple with a 7.5-mile radius that  includes Bountiful to the north and Murray to the south,  and from West Valley City to the Wasatch Mountain  benches. The count area is split into 15 teams. This allows  participants to divide and conquer in order to count as  many birds as possible during the day. Each team has a  leader who determines when and where to meet. Team  size varies from 2 to more counters.  

If you do not want to count in the field, you can count  birds at your feeders if your yard is within the count  circle.  

If you want to volunteer for this count, contact Ian  Batterman (, or call or text  920.360.0805) for more information. The CBC is a survey  and not a typical birding field trip. The goal is to count  all the bird species and individuals in an area, so it is a  long and fast-paced day depending on which area you  count. Volunteers can participate in multiple counts and  participation is free. If you are interested in other count  circles, go to https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count.