Mariposa Christmas Bird Count:
This is one of the season's longest held traditions with almost 126 years of participation.
This year's count will be held on Saturday, December 20, 2025 at 7:00AM.
Mariposa is divided into 4 zones Briceburg, Lush Meadows, White Rock Road and Cathey's Valley. The count will take place rain or shine, dress accordingly, bring lunch or snack and water.
Contact Karen Amstutz via email for more info. ravenamstutz@gmail.com
Last year Mariposa had 19 participants, counted 77 species of birds and 5354 individual birds, despite the wild, stormy weather.
The Oakhurst Area Christmas Bird Count will be on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. This will be the 15th year for the Oakhurst Christmas Bird Count. There is no fee to participate and no experience necessary. We welcome people new to birding as well as birders of all skill levels.
Generally it is conducted from dawn to dusk, but times may vary. The count will be conducted “rain or shine.” Most counting combines birding on foot as well as by car. General recommendations are that you dress for cold weather, wear layered clothing, bring a lunch or snacks, and water. Binoculars are recommended but not mandatory.
The Oakhurst area is divided into 6 zones Ahwahnee North, Ahwahnee South, Bass Lake, Coarsegold, Oakhurst and Oakhurst North,
Email Vern Johnson roygbiv@nctv.com for more information.
Yosemite Area Audubon Society members and friends are enthusiastic participants in the Christmas Bird Counts each year. The counts are part of the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, an annual avian census held between December 14 and January 5.
Begun on Christmas Day in 1900, this event is now the longest-running wildlife survey and the oldest citizen-science project in the world. Ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed this annual bird count as an alternative to the traditional “side-hunt,” a competition for hunters to shoot as many birds as they could kill on Christmas Day.
Chapman’s brainchild has grown from its original 25 locations, mostly in northeastern North America but including Pacific Grove in California, to more than 2,100 counts ranging from the Arctic to South America. Twenty-seven hearty souls participated in the first count; today volunteers number in the tens of thousands, all of them helping amass data that collectively inform scientists of bird population trends and patterns and, in turn, decisions by the agencies responsible for bird conservation.
Like all Christmas Bird Counts, each of the three local tallies (Mariposa, Yosemite, and Oakhurst) takes place within a fixed 15-mile-diameter circle established by the count originators. The compiler selects a date within the prescribed window of time for the count. On that one day participants, assigned to specific zones, fan out inside the circle to cover the area as widely as possible and to count all the birds observed and identified. At the end of the day the results are compiled for submittal to National Audubon.
Christmas bird counts are among a number of citizen-science projects that engage members of the Yosemite Area Audubon Society, the local chapter affiliate of the National Audubon Society and its state affiliate, Audubon California, in bird conservation and in habitat protection, restoration, and education. YAAS invites area residents to discover the fascination and fun of birding by attending its monthly programs, participating in monthly field trips and getting involved in some of its exciting projects.
Participation in all counts is free, and all are welcome regardless of birding experience.
For more information about the Christmas Bird Count, including data and results, visit the National Audubon Society's CBC page.