How to Count Birds

A practical guide to making every bird count, for those who count birds.

Counting birds may sound simple—just step outside and start tallying. But in reality, it’s a complex and essential endeavor at the core of modern wildlife conservation. In How to Count Birds, conservation biologist Christopher JW McClure offers a practical guide to designing effective bird monitoring programs that inform real-world management and conservation strategies.

As species vanish at unprecedented rates, having accurate population data is more urgent than ever. Yet too often, flawed study designs and outdated techniques lead to wasted time, ill-used resources, and misleading conclusions. McClure equips researchers, students, and birders with the tools to design efficient studies that avoid common pitfalls and capture what’s truly happening in bird populations. This guide explains the biological, statistical, and philosophical principles behind good monitoring and explores study designs for estimating key demographic rates like survival and reproduction. McClure surveys the techniques used to estimate populations and highlights methods prone to error. Throughout, he advocates for a shift away from traditional approaches toward more precise techniques available today, such as acoustic monitoring and occupancy modeling.

Effective study design requires collaboration among wildlife managers, field biologists, and statisticians from the start, as well as flexibility for field conditions and methodological adaptability. Whether you’re just beginning or reevaluating a long-standing program, How to Count Birds is a timely reminder that precision and planning are just as critical as passion in the work of conservation.

Author Biography

Christopher JW McClure is the executive vice president of science and conservation at The Peregrine Fund. He is a coeditor of Applied Raptor Ecology: Essentials from Gyrfalcon Research.