Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBC will be operating a little differently this year. The following rules are being put in place to reduce the risk of infection for all participants.
- Count teams will not be open to the public, or listed in the newsletter or online. Instead of having a team of people cover an area, most count sectors will be covered by the sector leader alone.
- Family members who have quarantined with the sector leader are allowed to join them on the count.
- If the sector leader prefers to bird with a team, or does not feel confident doing the count alone, they are permitted to privately contact up to 4 people (for a team of 5 total) to join on the count. *Note to sector leaders: Having a team does increase the chance of infection, so you are encouraged to bird alone. Only recruit people if you feel it is absolutely necessary.* All members of a team must obey all of the following rules:
- Masks must be worn at all times
- Equipment (binoculars, scopes, cameras, food, physical lists, books, phones, transportation, etc.) cannot be shared
- Counters should try to stay at least 6 feet apart whenever possible. If a counter has to take off his/her mask for food or water, they must stay at least 10 feet away from the rest of the group.
- All counters, team or no team, must wear a mask (covering the mouth and nose) at all times, stay at least 6 feet away from all other people whenever possible, sanitize hands immediately after touching anything, and wash hands for at least 20 seconds once they are able to do so.
- To any counters who are not comfortable going out to count, have not been asked to join a count team, and/or refuse to wear a mask: stay home and count birds at your feeder or in your yard. Just send the list to your CBC Compiler.
- Pre-count and/or post-count meetings will either be cancelled or held on Zoom. Contact your CBC Compiler for more information.
- If any counters test positive for COVID-19, they must inform the CBC Compiler immediately, and they will be required to stay at home during the count. They may do a feeder/yard count, but they are prohibited from counting at a park or with a team.
- To any counters who test negative for COVID-19 less than 2 weeks before count day: You must still follow all the guidelines, as a precaution in case you are exposed to COVID-19 in between getting tested and count day.
- You may share equipment (listed above) and do not need to maintain social distance from other members of your team if and only if you and ALL members of your team test negative and do not come in to contact with ANY other people between getting your test and count day.
*These guidelines are being put in place to protect you from the virus. Please stay safe*
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You can download these guidelines for printing by clicking below.
You can download a CBC bird checklist for printing by clicking below.