Christmas Bird Counts for 2024 - 2025

  • Eastern Screech-Owl
    Eastern Screech-Owl
    Photo by Larry Dau
  • Red Crossbill
    Red Crossbill
    Photo by Adam Ciha
  • Barred Owl
    Barred Owl
    Photo by John Bissell

Iowa City CBCThe Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 when Frank Chapman suggested that teams change their tradition of shooting birds as a Christmas sport to simply taking a census of them. In the ensuing years, the idea has grown and the CBC has become a winter tradition for many birders across the country with friendly competitions among states and even circles. As the first citizen science project, the CBC has captured enough data over the years that results are now used by various scientific organizations to document changes in wintering bird populations. For more history and a neat video, check out the National Audubon's page on the CBC history. Since 1937 the IOU has a compiled and published the summary of each year's data in Iowa Bird Life. Roughly two-thirds of Iowa's count data is also submitted to and included in the big picture analysis by National Audubon.
1938 IBL Read about the 1937 CBCs

Log in to add a count to the calendar or edit a current one.
The following documents may be downloaded and used for your count:
Be sure to send your results to Christopher Caster for the annual IBL summary.

All CBC counts must be held during one calendar day during the period of 14 December to 5 January. These are the CBC dates for this season. Click the cardinal icon to see the details.

Upcoming Counts - 43 scheduled

DetailsMapCountDateContact
Click for details Ames12/14/2024 Email  Shane Patterson
Click for details Bremer County12/14/2024 Email  Francis L. Moore
Click for details Burlington12/14/2024 Email  Charles R Fuller
Click for details Cedar Rapids12/14/2024 Email  Jim Durbin
Click for details Decorah12/14/2024 Email  Chris Hall
Click for details Fayette12/14/2024 Email  Paul Skrade
Click for details Grinnell12/14/2024 Email  Robert Vanersvelde
Click for details Sioux City12/14/2024 Email  Jerry Probst
Click for details Southeast Webster County12/14/2024 Email  Breck Johnson
Click for details Davenport12/15/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Desoto NWR12/15/2024 Email  Kellie Hayden
Click for details Iowa City12/15/2024 Email  Chris Edwards
Click for details Saylorville Reservoir12/15/2024 Email  Stephen J. Dinsmore
Click for details Keokuk12/16/2024 Email  John Cecil
Click for details Jamaica12/17/2024 Email  Ray Cummins
Click for details Princeton-Camanche12/17/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Clinton-Savanna12/18/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Union Slough NWR12/18/2024 Email  Tyler Harms
Click for details Louisa Y12/19/2024 Email  Jason Monson
Click for details Northeast Madison County12/19/2024 Email  Tanner Donovan
Click for details Yellow River Forest12/19/2024 Email  Billy Reiter-Marolf
Click for details Eldora-Union12/20/2024 Email  Mark Proescholdt
Click for details Green Island/Lost Mound12/20/2024 Email  Ed Anderson
Click for details Rathbun Reservoir12/20/2024 Email  Thomas Johnson
Click for details Cedar Falls-Waterloo12/21/2024 Email  Francis L. Moore
Click for details Des Moines12/21/2024 Email  John Cecil
Click for details Lamoni12/21/2024 Email  Jeffrey Livingston
Click for details Mason City12/21/2024 Email  Rita Goranson
Click for details Muscatine12/21/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Humboldt County12/22/2024 Email  Jacob Newton
Click for details Ida County12/22/2024 Email  Don Poggensee
Click for details Red Rock Reservoir12/22/2024 Email  Tyler Harms
Click for details Western Mercer County12/23/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Andalusia-Buffalo12/24/2024 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Dubuque12/28/2024 Email  Tony Moline
Click for details North Linn12/28/2024 Email  Jim Durbin
Click for details Sac County 12/28/2024 Email  Elizabeth Partridge Blessington
Click for details Shelby County12/28/2024 Email  Scott Buchanan
Click for details Ringgold County12/29/2024 Email  Jeffrey Livingston
Click for details Buchanan County1/2/2025 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Northwest Clayton County1/3/2025 Email  Kelly McKay
Click for details Neal Smith NWR1/4/2025 Email  Nancy Corona
Click for details Southeast Clayton County1/4/2025 Email  Kelly McKay