- Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
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Looking for a way to give during the holiday season while also enjoying nature? A tradition that started Christmas Day in 1900 is now a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society. People across the state will spend the beginning of the winter counting birds, helping ornithologists gather data that would be difficult to collect on their own.
From December 15 to January 5, the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will commence in the U.S., Canada, and 18 other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Countries are divided into geographical regions (35 in Massachusetts) and each region will pick a single 24-hour period to count birds.
Data from the CBC can be utilized in many ways, including to monitor trends in bird populations, document range shifts over time, and examine how climate change may impact the winter distributions of birds.CBC data has been used in hundreds of analyses, peer-reviewed publications, and government reports over the decades.
What birds are in MA in December?
There are a variety of feathered friends that can be seen in Massachusetts, including:
- Local residents: chickadees, titmice, many species of woodpeckers, bluebirds, Carolina wren, and many raptors.
- Migrants heading south for winter: kinglets, some raptors, snow bunting, some sparrows.
- Waterfowl: dabbling and diving ducks, especially along coast.
- Irruptive species that are only present in some years: finches like evening grosbeak, red crossbill, white-winged crossbill, redpoll, pine grosbeak, red-breasted nuthatch.
Count birds on a WMA
Many of MassWildlife’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) fall within the CBC regions. Below is a table of top WMA locations to count birds. Check out the CBC circle map to sign up and participate. If you aren’t able to get out to a WMA, learn how you can still participate in the CBC.
*Reminder: Please stay safe by wearing orange on our WMAs during hunting season!
| CBC regions | WMAs within the region |
|---|---|
| Athol | Birch Hill WMA, Fish Brook WMA, Lawrence Brook WMA, Millers River WMA, Norcross Hill WMA, Orange WMA, Phillipston WMA, Popple Camp WMA, Stone Bridge WMA, Tully Mountain WMA, Warwick WMA |
| Buzzards Bay | Frances A. Crane WMA, Mashpee Pine Barrens WMA, Mashpee River WMA, Pickerel Cove WMA, Quashnet River WMA, Quashnet Woods State Res. & WMA, Camp Edwards WMA |
| Cape Ann | Castle Neck River WMA, Great Marsh North WMA |
| Cape Cod | Eastham Salt Marsh WMA, Olivers Pond WMA |
| Central Berkshire | Chalet WMA, Day Mountain WMA, Fairfield Brook WMA, George L. Darey Housatonic Valley WMA, Hinsdale Flats WMA, Housatonic River East Branch WMA, Richmond Fen WMA |
| Cobble Mountain | Honey Pot WMA, Southwick WMA, Stage Brook WMA, Tekoa Mountain WMA, Westfield WMA |
| Concord | Boxborough Station WMA, Delaney WMA, Pantry Brook WMA, Whittier WMA |
| Greenfield | Darwin Scott WMA, Flagg Mountain WMA, Green River WMA, Leyden WMA, Montague Plains WMA, Montague WMA, Mt. Toby WMA, Sunderland Islands WMA |
| Groton-Oxbow N.W.R | Bolton Flats WMA, Hunting Hills WMA, Mulpus Brook WMA, Nissitissit River WMA, Squannacook River WMA, Townsend Hill WMA, Unkety Brook WMA |
| Marshfield | English Salt Marsh WMA |
| Martha’s Vineyard | Katama Plains WMA |
| Mid-Cape Cod | Chase Garden Creek WMA, Hyannis Ponds WMA, Old Sandwich Game Farm WMA, Sandwich Hollows WMA |
| Millis | Charles River WMA |
| New Bedford | Haskell Swamp WMA, Mattapoisett River WMA, South Shore Marshes WMA |
| Newburyport | Crane Pond WMA, Martin H. Burns WMA, Salisbury Salt Marsh WMA, Upper Parker River WMA, William Forward WMA |
| Newport County-Westport | Dartmoor Farm WMA |
| Northampton | Brewer Brook WMA, Great Swamp WMA, Lake Warner WMA, Mt. Esther WMA, Mt. Tom WMA, Rainbow Beach WMA, Whately WMA |
| Northern Berkshire | Barton's Ledge WMA, Brodie Mountain WMA, Bullock Ledge WMA, Green River WMA, Misery Mountain WMA, Savoy WMA, Stafford Hill WMA, |
| Plymouth | Camp Cachalot WMA, Cooks Pond WMA, Halfway Pond WMA, Maple Springs WMA, Plymouth Grassy Pond WMA, Red Brook WMA, Se Pine Barrens WMA, Sly Pond WMA, South Triangle Pond WMA |
| Quabbin | Herman Covey WMA, Moose Brook WMA, Muddy Brook WMA, Raccoon Hill WMA, Ware River WMA, Winimusset WMA |
| Southern Bershire | Agawam Lake WMA, Dolomite Ledges WMA, Hubbard Brook WMA, Jug End State Reservation And WMA, Karner Brook WMA, North Egremont WMA, Three Mile Pond WMA |
| Springfield | Facing Rock WMA |
| Sturbridge | Breakneck Brook WMA, Hitchcock Mountain WMA, Leadmine WMA, Mckinstry Brook WMA, Quaboag WMA, Quacumquasit WMA, Rattlesnake Mountain WMA, Richardson WMA, Wolf Swamp WMA |
| Taunton-Middleboro | Copicut WMA, Hockomock Swamp WMA, Mill Brook Bogs WMA, Puddingstone WMA, Purchade Brook WMA, Taunton River WMA |
| Truro | Fox Island WMA, Marconi WMA |
| Tuckernuck Islands | Wasque Point WMA |
| Uxbridge | Chockalog Swamp WMA, E. Kent Swift WMA, Lackey Pond WMA, Mine Brook WMA, Quisset WMA, West Hill Dam WMA |
| Westminster | Ashburnham WMA, High Ridge WMA, Hubbardston WMA, Savage Hill WMA, Templeton Brook WMA |
| Worcester | Mt. Pisgah WMA, Poutwater Pond WMA |
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