The Christmas Bird Count: 2026–27 dates and how to join

The 127th Christmas Bird Count runs from December 14, 2026 to January 5, 2027. Each count circle picks one day in that window. To take part, find a count near you and sign up with its organizer, the compiler, before count day. It's free, beginners are welcome, and you can count at home if you live inside a circle.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is run by the National Audubon Society. Every winter, tens of thousands of volunteers across the Americas spend a day counting birds, the same way and in the same places each year, so scientists can see how bird numbers change. The 125th count, in 2024–25, had 83,109 of them.

The 2026–27 count at a glance

Facts checked: October 21, 2026; Circle Finder, sign-up status and the announced dates, November 11, 2026.

What day is the Christmas Bird Count in 2026?

Each count picks one day between December 14, 2026 and January 5, 2027.

The count period is the same every season, December 14 to January 5, whatever day of the week those dates fall on. Audubon's answers page says each circle's compiler chooses a single calendar day inside that window, so the date near you depends on your local count. Saturday, December 19 and Sunday, December 20 are popular choices this year, as the table below shows. The window's last day, January 5, is also National Bird Day: here's who started National Bird Day, and why.

Audubon's new Circle Finder is online now, and you can filter its circles by state and by date.

Christmas Bird Count 2026 dates near you (already announced)

These local counts have already set their 2026–27 day. Each row links to the group that announced it, so you can check the details and sign up there.

Don't see your area? Search Audubon's Circle Finder for your town or ZIP code: it shows every count circle, and each circle's day once its leader has posted it. You can also look up your state's row below. A date marked tentative may still change. "Checked" is the day we last read the date on the organizer's own page.

What happens on count day?

Each count covers a fixed circle 15 miles (24 km) across, so 7.5 miles from the center to the edge (some pages wrongly call it a 15-mile radius). Once set up, a circle never moves, so its results can be compared year after year.

• A compiler runs each circle. They recruit and guide the volunteers, then send the circle's results to Audubon.
• Field counters count every bird they see or hear, alone or in groups, during daylight on the count day. They record how many of each species, not just which species. Some counts also go out after dark to listen for owls.
• Feeder counters count from home, if they live inside the circle and have arranged it with the compiler beforehand. Audubon says no binoculars or hiking are needed. They report the most birds of each species seen at one time, so the same chickadee isn't counted over and over, and the hours they watched.
• Everything happens on one day. Audubon says all count activities must fall within the circle's 24-hour count day.
• Beginners are welcome. Audubon says the compiler will pair a beginning birder with an expert at first.
• "Count week" catches the extras. A species seen in the three days before or after count day, but not on the day itself, is noted as present ("cw"), without a number.

How do I find a Christmas Bird Count near me?

Search Audubon's Circle Finder for your town or ZIP code, open the circle around your home, and register there or contact its compiler. Audubon put the finder online in November for the 127th count. When we checked on November 11, 2026, 1,107 circles were open for sign-up.

• Search or browse. Type a place, a ZIP or postal code, a circle's name or its four-letter code, or zoom the map in to your area. Filters narrow the circles by country, state and date.
• Read the color. Audubon's help pages explain the three states a circle can be in: open (taking volunteers), pending (its leader hasn't posted this year's details yet) and closed (full). On November 11, 2,135 circles were still pending, so if yours is one of them, check back, or ask the group that runs it.
• Open the circle's page. It has a Register for Circle button where the count signs people up online, a printable map of the circle, and a data form listing the birds you're likely to see there. Some circles are small or take sign-ups another way, and their page says how.
• Your state's bird groups often post their counts first. Many state bird societies and Audubon groups list their state's counts, with dates and how to sign up, on their own websites. The table below gives one place to look in each state.

Christmas Bird Counts by state

Every state has Christmas Bird Counts: last winter, Audubon's map showed 2,210 circles in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Here's one place to look in each state, with how many circles it had. Where we found no list for the state, start with Audubon's Circle Finder.

We counted the circles on Audubon's map for the 126th count (2025–26) by the state code Audubon gives each circle: 2,210 in all. This winter's numbers may differ a little. A list marked 2025–26 still shows last winter's dates, so check back or ask the compiler.

How do you join a Christmas Bird Count near you?

Find a count circle near you, then sign up with its compiler well before count day. Here's how, step by step.

1. Find a circle. Search the Circle Finder, the dates table or your state's row, as in the sections above. In Canada, Birds Canada helps coordinate the counts.
2. Register early. Where the circle offers it, click Register for Circle in the Circle Finder; otherwise follow its page or contact the compiler. Audubon's form asks your experience at identifying birds, the hours you can count and any group you'd like to join, so the leader can put you in the right team, and no count experience is needed. Say whether you'd like a field group or your feeder. Ask early: each compiler decides whether the count can take more people, and a full circle shows as closed.
3. Ask about the plan. The compiler will tell you where to go, when to meet, and how to report.
4. Dress for a winter day outside. Counting can go on all day, so bring layers, water and a snack. You'll need your own transport and binoculars, though some counts have a few pairs to lend.
5. Send your numbers to the compiler. Audubon is clear that all counts must go through the official compiler, who submits the circle's results.

If there's no circle near you, anyone can propose a new one, as long as it doesn't overlap an existing circle. Audubon's CBC Resource Hub explains how. For the 2025–26 count, Audubon expected more than 2,800 circles, from Canada to Chile.

Your first Christmas Bird Count: what beginners ask

What should I bring to a Christmas Bird Count?

Warm, waterproof layers, good walking shoes, water, snacks and a packed lunch, and binoculars if you have them. Audubon's answers page says you provide your own transportation, binoculars and weather-appropriate clothing. Birds Connect Seattle tells its field volunteers to expect rain, shine or snow, to bring a warm hat, socks and gloves, and to pack fluids, snacks and a sack lunch; it keeps some binoculars to lend if you ask ahead. Counting from home at a feeder needs none of that: Audubon says no binoculars or hiking are required.

Do you have to stay all day?

Not always: field teams often count from morning to late afternoon, but some counts offer half-day spots, and feeder counters choose how long they watch. Birds Connect Seattle, for example, says its field volunteers are usually out from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with some half-day options, while its at-home counters typically watch for 60 to 90 minutes on count day. When you sign up, tell the compiler how much time you have.

Can kids join the Christmas Bird Count?

Yes: Audubon says the count is open to bird enthusiasts of any level, and a family can count together at a feeder inside a circle. Each count sets its own rules for children. Birds Connect Seattle asks families with children 12 and under to sign up for its at-home count, and welcomes children 13 and up in the field with a parent or guardian. Ask your compiler what works for your count.

Can I take part if I can't walk far?

Yes: count at a feeder inside the circle, which Audubon says needs no binoculars or hiking, or ask the compiler for a route with less walking. Feeder counters watch a feeder in their own backyard or a local park inside the circle, and arrange it with the compiler beforehand. Field routes differ too: Birds Connect Seattle notes that some of its areas need more walking and others more driving. For more ways to enjoy birds on an easy outing, see our guide to birding with less walking.

When does sign-up open for the 2026 count?

It's open now for many counts: on November 11, 2026, Audubon's Circle Finder showed 1,107 circles taking sign-ups. Each count still opens its own registration, and Audubon's history page says birders can sign up each November, so a circle marked pending may open later. Some local groups open earlier or set their own deadlines: Birds Connect Seattle opened volunteer registration for its December 20 count on October 21, the San Diego Bird Alliance asks participants to register by November 15, and Morro Coast Audubon and the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance open sign-up for their counts on November 1.

What's new for the 127th count?

Audubon has moved the count onto new online tools this year: a new website and Resource Hub, the Circle Finder with online sign-up, and a new platform where leaders enter their counts. For volunteers, the big change is signing up: on many circles you can now register in the Circle Finder instead of emailing the compiler first. Audubon has trained its count leaders on each step in a series of online sessions:

• September 17 and 28, 2026: preparing for the 127th count, and submitting count data.
• October 8: the new website and Resource Hub.
• November 4: the Circle Finder and volunteer registration.
• November 18: managing count data.
• Date not set yet: a dashboard of the results.

What hasn't changed: one day per circle between December 14 and January 5, circles 15 miles across, and every number sent through the circle's compiler.

Christmas Bird Count vs. Project FeederWatch vs. Great Backyard Bird Count

The Christmas Bird Count is one day in a fixed circle, run through a compiler; Project FeederWatch is a whole winter at your own feeder; and the Great Backyard Bird Count is four days in February, from anywhere. You can do all three.

Our Project FeederWatch guide explains how to sign up before it starts on November 1. Audubon suggests the Great Backyard Bird Count for anyone who'd rather count alone, since the Christmas Bird Count only takes counts made inside a circle with its compiler: here's how the February count works.

How did the Christmas Bird Count start?

Before 1900, some hunters had a holiday tradition called the Christmas "side hunt". They chose teams, went out with their guns, and the side that brought back the biggest pile of birds and animals won.

On Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer of the young Audubon Society, proposed a new tradition: count birds instead of shooting them. That first year, 27 birders held 25 counts, from Toronto, Ontario, to Pacific Grove, California. Together they tallied around 90 species. Chapman's idea is one of our bird trivia questions and answers, a list that prints for a holiday get-together.

It has grown a long way since. The 125th count, in 2024–25, had:

• 2,693 count circles,
• 83,109 participants, including 10,652 feeder watchers,
• 44,259,423 birds counted.

The results matter. In Audubon's words, volunteers "collect data that power critical bird conservation work throughout the year." CBC data have been cited in more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, including the 2019 study in Science that documented the loss of nearly three billion North American birds since 1970.

Questions people ask

Who organizes the Christmas Bird Count?

The National Audubon Society runs it, and a volunteer compiler organizes each local count circle. In Canada, Audubon works with Birds Canada, which helps coordinate the counts there.

What are the rules of the Christmas Bird Count?

Count only inside your circle, only on its count day, and count every bird you see or hear, not just each kind. You sign up with the compiler in advance, and all your numbers go to the compiler, who sends the circle's results to Audubon. Feeder counters report the most of each species seen at one time, and how many hours they watched.

What is the purpose of the Christmas Bird Count?

To show how bird populations change over time. Because each circle is counted the same way every winter, Audubon says the results revealed steep declines in grassland birds such as the Eastern Meadowlark, showed the Carolina Wren and Red-bellied Woodpecker spreading north, and caught a decline in American Kestrels decades before other surveys did.

How long has the Christmas Bird Count been going on?

Since Christmas Day 1900, which makes the 2026–27 count the 127th. Some circles have been counted every year since then.

Is it true that North America has lost 3 billion birds in 50 years?

Yes, close to it. A 2019 study in Science found that North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970, and Audubon says Christmas Bird Count data helped inform it.

Why are there not as many birds this year?

Usually because there's plenty of wild food, not because the birds are gone. Travis Audubon in Texas says quiet feeders in fall happen to some degree every year: birds prefer wild seeds while there are plenty, summer birds have left before the winter birds arrive, and in a warm fall many winter birds stay farther north. It expects them back at feeders once colder weather comes and wild food runs short.

Some winter birds also follow the tree-seed crops in Canada. This winter's finch forecast expects plenty of finches in the Northeast but few farther south. A quiet feeder in one season isn't proof of a decline, but over the decades the losses are real: see the 3 billion birds question above.

Can you do the Christmas Bird Count from home?

Yes, if you live inside a count circle. Feeder counters count the birds at their own feeders on count day, after arranging it with the circle's compiler beforehand. They report the most birds of each species seen at one time, and the hours they watched. To count at your feeder all winter long, there's also Project FeederWatch, from November 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027.

Can I do my own count and send in the results?

No. Audubon only takes counts made as part of an existing circle, arranged with its compiler beforehand; counts by one person alone aren't accepted, except in unusual cases. If you'd rather count on your own, Audubon suggests the Great Backyard Bird Count, held over Presidents' Day weekend each February.

Do you need to be an experienced birder?

No. Audubon says the compiler will pair a beginning birder with an expert at first.

When will the 2026 count map be online?

It's online now. Audubon's new Circle Finder maps every count circle for the 127th count, with each one's sign-up status, and its day once the leader has posted it.

Does it cost anything?

No. The Christmas Bird Count has been free to join since 2012. You bring your own transport, binoculars and warm clothes.

Is the Christmas Bird Count only in the US?

No. Counts run across the Americas: for the 2025–26 count, Audubon expected more than 2,800 circles, from Canada to Chile.

What were the results of the 2026 Great Backyard Bird Count?

An estimated 1,146,284 people took part and found 8,257 bird species in 216 countries and regions, according to the final results reported in March 2026. It's a different event from the Christmas Bird Count: Audubon says you can count for as little as 15 minutes, on one or more of its four days, from your backyard or anywhere else, and you report your sightings online yourself. The 30th Great Backyard Bird Count runs February 12–15, 2027.

Which US state has the most birds?

California, with 696 bird species on its official state list, updated September 8, 2026 by the California Bird Records Committee. Texas is next, with 678 as of June 7, 2026. California also had the most Christmas Bird Count circles on Audubon's map last winter: 143, ahead of Texas with 126. Here's the official count for every state. Divided by land area, the order changes: see bird species per square mile, state by state.

What bird is a symbol of Christmas?

In the United States it's the Northern Cardinal, and in Britain it's the robin. The Farmers' Almanac calls the cardinal the top Christmas-card bird in the US, because the male stays scarlet all year, even in the snow. It's also the state bird of seven states. Many people also take a cardinal as a sign of hope or of a loved one nearby: here's what a red cardinal means, belief by belief.

The British robin, a different and much smaller bird than the American Robin, has been tied to Christmas since Victorian times. Victorian postmen wore red waistcoats and were nicknamed "Robin Red-Breasts", and the Lancashire Wildlife Trust says they are thought to be why so many robins appear on Christmas cards.

The carol has its own flock: here are the birds of the Twelve Days of Christmas, from the partridge to the seven swans, and which of them you can see in the US.

Can count-day birds go on your own life list?

The Christmas Bird Count is community science first. Its value comes from careful counting, the same way, in the same places, year after year. Your tally belongs to that effort.

A day in the field with experienced birders is also a lovely way to see new birds, and your own sightings are yours to keep too.

• Note what you saw, with the date and place, in a birding log book or whatever you use for your life list. A winter lifer found on count day comes with a good story.
• If you use eBird, you can also enter your own checklist. But Audubon's compiler manual explains that eBird checklists are not added to the CBC results automatically. So always give your counts to your compiler first.
• Start a year list. A count in early January is a fine start to a year list. (Here's how a year list works, and what makes a good one.)
• Or a state list. Many birders also keep a list for their home state. For scale, here's how many bird species each state has on its official list.
• Then look back at the year. Birds from a December count land on this year's list. When the year turns, your birding year in numbers shows your total, your new lifers and your biggest day, free from your eBird file.

Keeping the date and place with each new bird is what makes a list worth looking back on. It's also what a Birdfolio book prints beside every species. If you're curious, look inside a Birdfolio, or read what a life list is.

Looking for more birding events? Our calendar of US birding festivals lists them by month and state.

Shopping for a birder this December? A count day together makes a good present, and our guide to Christmas gifts for bird lovers has more ideas at every budget. For an older birder, our gifts for grandparents who love birds include lighter binoculars and outings with less walking.

The Christmas Bird Count is a program of the National Audubon Society. Birdfolio has no connection with it or with Audubon.

Birdfolio is not affiliated with eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology or iNaturalist.