CNMI birdwatchers take part in annual count

From left, Rhonda DiCostanzo, Lee Roy Sablan, Larry Maurin, and Emilie Kohler. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Fifteen volunteers trooped to the American Memorial Park in Garapan early yesterday morning to join this year’s Audubon Christmas Bird Count, which was organized by the Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources to help celebrate the count’s 20th year of being done on Saipan.

The Christmas Bird Count, which involves having volunteers counting the number of birds they see in their assigned locations to determine avian population densities, had the volunteers going to locations such as the Marpi landfill, Suicide Cliff, Kagman, and Coral Ocean Point.

This year’s bird count on Saipan was organized by Emilie Kohler and she was joined by four Division of Wildlife employees and fifteen volunteers.

“The Christmas Bird Count started in the 1900s and is a citizen science project,” Kohler said. “This means that anyone and everyone is encouraged to participate, especially if you have good bird identifying skills.”

According to Kohler, birds that aren’t originally from Saipan stay on island for the wintertime and, once it is spring or fall, they start to migrate. In order to see reoccurring or new bird species, the bird count is held between the endings of December or beginning of January.

“This event is…a good opportunity for the community to get together and learn about the birds,” according to Kohler. “There has been a database that has been provided since the 1900s, so you can see if there’s any troubling trends with the bird populations or if there’s good news,”

There is still no final tabulation on the birds that were counted on Saipan but Kohler hopes to beat last year’s record of bird species recorded on island.

Larry Maurin, who has been participating in the count since 2005, said, “It is a nice tradition and it’s nice to meet birders who are experts or beginners.”

Rhonda DiCostanzo, a first-time birder on Saipan, used to do the bird count in the U.S. mainland “but these birds [here] are very different.”

“I love to learn new things. The birds are beautiful and I love to identify the local birds. It’s just wonderful,” she added.

DiCostanzo encourages people who have yet to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count to participate since it is a wonderful way to be outdoors, great way to be active, and to learn about nature.

This year’s Annual Christmas Bird Count also happened on Rota and Tinian.