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Racine Christmas Bird Count

December 20, 2025

Hoy Audubon Society requests all birders and those interested in helping look for and count birds to join the 126th annual Christmas Bird Count this month.

This nationwide program, coordinated by the National Audubon Society, is free and open to the public. It involves gathering information in designated count areas and from home feeder watchers to help scientists monitor the early winter range and numbers of bird populations throughout the decades. More information on Christmas Bird Counts can be found at www.christmasbirdcount.org.

In the Racine area, the count will be on Saturday, December 20. Contact count coordinator Eric Howe at cbc@hoyaudubon.org to sign up.

Home Yard/Feeder Watchers
You can report birds from your home yard/feeders if you’re within the designated count area as indicated above. Feeder results for the designated count day should be emailed to the count coordinator; include your name, address, the species and number of each seen, the date and time, and the duration of time spent actively watching on the count day.

Field Teams
Existing field teams may cover their designated areas of the count circle individually or with others. If you are interested in joining an available field team if space permits, please contact the count coordinator. If you prefer a particular location to cover on your own, please contact the count coordinator to confirm if that area will be already covered or not (to avoid duplication of numbers).

“Count Week”
In addition to the specific count dates listed above, you may also report incidental observations of birds during the ‘count week’ for the respective count areas. This is the period within three days prior and within three days after the count day. This provides an opportunity for bird watchers to report birds that are found within the count area even though they may not have been observed on the designated count day. Typically these could be uncommon species or they may simply be common birds that might be missed on the count day. For species reported during the count week, but not on the count day, there is no need to provide numbers.
***The count week for Racine is December 17-23

If you observe any unusual species prior to the count day, please contact the count coordinator so that they may contact the field party that may be covering the area on the count day. For instance, if you observe a white goose out in a field that you are unsure about its identity or if you happen to see a shrike in a tree on a day leading up to the count day, let the coordinator know so that the field party can take a closer look on the count day for that species.

Rare Bird Observations
An uncommon/rare species observed during the count could be one not normally seen in the state and/or is not typically observed during this time of year. Examples are listed on the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology web site at:
https://wsobirds.org/wso-review-list and
http://wsobirds.org/images/pdfs/ArrivalDeparture2020Fall.pdf
Such sightings can be emailed to the appropriate count coordinator; include date, location and a detailed description, including a comparison of its field marks with similar, more likely species. A photo would be very helpful in confirming its presence.
For a rare bird observation to be accepted, you may also be requested to submit a rare bird documentation form, found at
https://wsobirds.org/rare-bird-documentation. Contact the count compiler with any questions.

 

Areas in need for coverage as of (December 18):

The December 20, 2025 Racine Christmas Bird Count is looking to fill a few recently open public walking areas located within the CBC sections. If you are available to take any of the three portions below, please reach out to me at cbc@hoyaudubon.org.

Participants are highly encouraged to submit *separate* eBird checklists (for each eBird hotspot) with tracking enabled (so only unique mileage is calculated) and share with the HoyAudubonWI username for compilation of CBC totals.

Pike River Pathway (3 segments)

The southern central portion of the count circle has these available walking portions along the Pike River (Pike River Pathway trail system). I am not aware of the existing conditions on these trails for this winter so biking them slowly may or may not be an option this year due to possible ice coverage on the trails. It would be possible for one group to cover this area in a morning. If one wishes to reduce backtracking on the trails, one could coordinate their own pickup at the far end of the trail system.
Possible species include GB Heron, Belted Kingfisher, potential for overwintering waterfowl, sparrows (apart from expected American Tree Sparrows, potential to pick up Song and Swamp Sparrows, etc.), other open field wintering species, etc.

  • 1. Mount Pleasant–Pike River Pathway (Hwy 20 to Hwy 11)
    https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1788734
    (Roadside parking off of Willow Rd on the west side or also north of Hwy 11. Depending how much one covers the various trails, this could be upwards of 2 unique/CBC miles worth of walking)
  • 2. Pike River Pathway–Hwy. 11 to Braun Rd.
    https://ebird.org/hotspot/L7288581
    (Parking lot located just north of Braun Rd. Just over one unique/CBC mile for this segment.)
  • 3. Pike River Pathway (between Braun Rd & KR)
    https://ebird.org/hotspot/L10264305
    (One may need to confirm if there is adequate roadside parking along KR or if better to park off of Braun Rd. Just over one unique/CBC mile for this segment.)

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Northeast portion of the Racine CBC circle

Two public walking areas for someone who ideally HAS a spotting scope as both areas include scanning of the Lake Michigan waters that are found within the edge of the CBC circle boundary.

  • 1. Cliffside Park (Racine Co.)
    https://ebird.org/hotspot/L293238
    One could spend a couple hours easily in the morning here on the various trails of the park and the hike out to the bluff (take caution near the bluff!).
  • 2. Chapla Park
    https://ebird.org/hotspot/L817833
    This small park is southeast Cliffside Park. Judgement can be used by observer so as not duplicate birds seen in the direction of Cliffside Park when scoping for waterbirds. Any possible duplicate waterbird numbers can be noted in the checklist comments so that they can be omitted from the final CBC tally.

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MRK Trail (*less of a priority for coverage than above areas*)

A walking /bike trail portion in the northeast portion of the count circle. Again here, to reduce back tracking, one could arrange their own pick up from one side of the trail. Again, trail conditions are not known whether biking is safe from an possible icy/snow packed areas.

Details

  • Date: December 20, 2025

Organizer

  • Hoy Audubon Society – CBC
  • Email cbc@hoyaudubon.org