PENN TWP — Bird lovers who would like to be a scientist for a day are asked to contact the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Chris Kubiak, society education director, said the 12th annual South Butler Christmas Bird Count on Sunday, Dec. 31 is in need of people with bird feeders to participate in the count, whether they watch their feeder for 15 minutes or for hours on that day.

He said those participating in the count are not required to be bird experts, as long as they are able to identify the songbirds that land on their feeders.

Instructions on counting birds and a tally sheet will be provided to those counting birds.

Kubiak said those with bird feeders in Penn, Cranberry, Jackson, Adams and Middlesex townships, plus Mars, Seven Fields, Callery and Zelienople, can serve as volunteer bird counters.

“It’s extremely important,” Kubiak said of the bird count. “It gives us a snapshot of how the birds are doing.”

He explained that trends in migration and habitat among birds can be determined through the bird count, and those trends often predict other environmental changes.

For example, if the count for a certain bird that is expected at feeders this time of year is decreased, that could be an early warning sign that something is amiss.

“But we need people to get out there and look,” Kubiak said.

He said the count also helps document the return of a species, such as the bald eagle’s triumphant return to Western Pennsylvania over the past several years.

“Now there are bald eagles in the count here along the Connoquenessing Creek, which tells me the creek is now cleaner,” Kubiak said.

One sad fact revealed in the Christmas Bird Count over the years is the disappearance of the Pennsylvania state bird from the woodlands of the Keystone State.

“Through the count, we found the ruffed grouse is nonexistent,” Kubiak said.

He said the West Nile virus decimated the grouse population.

“We’ve seen an 80% decline since 2000,” Kubiak said. “So these (bird counts) also help to inform the game commission.”

The annual bird count, which number in the thousands across the Western Hemisphere, also detected the movement of birds from southern U.S. states to Western Pennsylvania over the years.

Kubiak counts among the birds that formerly lived in warmer climes the Carolina wren, Carolina chickadee, and the mockingbird.

“We’re seeing range shifts,” he said. “Birds are really great indicators of what is going on in the environment, whether good or bad.”

He said birds that are commonly seen in Western Pennsylvania backyards and wood lines today, such as the cardinal, tufted titmouse and red-bellied woodpecker, lived exclusively in warmer southern states 150 years ago.

“That’s why we pay close attention,” Kubiak said.

Likewise, the bald eagle, which once was forced to migrate because the waterways where the birds got their meals were frozen over.

“Now, they spend all winter here, fishing and eating road kill,” Kubiak said.

Robins and bluebirds, once migratory species in Western Pennsylvania, now stay year-round due to the area’s warmer winters, he said.

South Butler Christmas Bird Count volunteers also will gather at Succop Nature Park early on the morning of Dec. 31, be divided into groups, and stalk the trails and fields of the park to count birds.

“This is a great family event,” Kubiak said.

Instructions, digital maps, binoculars and tally sheets will be provided, he said.

“The count is like a scavenger hunt,” Kubiak said. “When you’re out there, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

He said he can’t divulge the location, but a pair of redheaded woodpeckers has overwintered in southern Butler County for the past four years. They were discovered during a Christmas Bird Count.

“That’s exciting to get those birds, because they are really striking,” Kubiak said.

He also saw a merlin at Butler Country Club one year.

“They look like fighter jets,” Kubiak said. “They’re really cool.”

Kubiak said the bird count is held in the winter because that’s when the larger Audubon Society began the count 124 years ago by hunting songbirds and weighing them to determine who had killed the most birds.

“Finally, someone said ‘Let’s count the birds and not shoot them,’” Kubiak said.

He said Western Pennsylvania sees one-third of the birds seen in the summer.

“We have surveys in the warmer months, too,” Kubiak said.

Those who would like to participate in the South Butler Christmas Bird Count can email Kubiak at ckubiak@aswp.org or call him at 724-799-4785.