Official bird counts, encouraged by local, State, National and International ornithology organizations, are primarily used to monitor avian populations, ranges and migration patterns. Such information assists with conservation efforts and provides vital evidence regarding the health of natural ecosystems.
Unfortunately, bird counts have become competitive, partially in response to "birding holidays" and online tracking by eBird and other groups. As a result, some participants focus on the number of species that they can report, spending several hours at a park or refuge to maximize their count. In doing so, they tend to ignore the true number of common, "uninteresting" species as they scour the thickets and woods for additions to their list. They are, it seems, missing the forest for the trees.
Perhaps the data evens out as computers digest the input but individual reports are often suspect. How someone can observe numerous species over a prolonged visit while reporting only a few sightings of a bird that is especially common during that season is confusing to this birder.
