MARYSVILLE – Scott Atkinson says counting birds is not for the birds – it can be fun for anyone.

Atkinson, the county compiler and organizer, is looking for volunteers to help with the Annual Christmas Bird Count Dec. 30.

“The count is for everyone — experts, beginners, the young and old, and even those who cannot walk. It is citizen science at its best — an annual Christmastime event that draws the community together to provide a snapshot of the region’s birdlife,” he said.

Volunteers are asked to county and identify birds at their feeders and in nearby areas.

This effort is one of thousands of similar counts held worldwide each year in a tradition that dates back over 100 years.

The Everett-Marysville count started in 1976, but the area was slightly shifted southward in 1995.

The counting area includes all of Marysville, Tulalip, Island Crossing and Smokey Point, along with southwest Arlington, northwest Lake Stevens, north Everett, and the extreme southern end of Camano Island.

Over the years, as the popularity of feeding birds has increased dramatically, the yearly snapshot has provided increasingly valuable data showing how land-use, climactic and other changes are reflected in nature. Ruffed Grouse has seemingly left the count area with all the increasing housing construction, while the Anna’s Hummingbird has increased exponentially —thanks to the countless hummingbird feeders left out through winter. Birds preferring suburbs with ornamental plantings and feeders, like the Black-capped Chickadee and Downy Woodpecker, have also increased.

The warming trend in winters over the last decades has brought the California Scrub-Jay to the region. Fifty years ago, the jay was not known north of Portland, OR. But slow, steady movement northward has brought them to Marysville in the last five years. Four were near Jennings Park within the last month.

Atkinson, who has been doing the count since 1973, said every year there are surprises. One year, a Snowy Owl (found in cold northern regions) showed up on Jetty Island, and six Tree and two Barn Swallows (that normally winter in Mexico and beyond) also were found.

All of the counting areas are based on a 15-mile diameter circle, in which all of the wild birds are counted on a single day — rain or shine.

Each of the last few years, participation in the Everett-Marysville count has grown to a record 126 people. Over the course of the day, 128 species and over 44,000 birds were counted. There are now not only field teams, but also kayaking parties, a boat party that covers the open waters to Hat Island, and even a Boeing employee that bike-birds the Centennial Trail.

Interested? Call Atkinson at 425-210-2716 or email scottratkinson@hotmail.com.