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Columbia is not the only place seeing a rise in new bird-watchers. According to the Associated Press, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has seen a 102% increase in downloads of its free bird identification app, Merlin ID, last year compared to 2019.
And the best time for new birders to start is the wintertime, according to Jim Gast, the president of the Columbia Audubon Society.
“It’s a good time because you don’t have a lot of leaves in the trees that can obscure the birds from your view,” Gast said. “There also aren’t as many species in the winter, so it’s easier to learn 20 birds than about 120 birds that you see in the spring.”