By Nick Worth The time is nearing for the annual North American Migration Count (NAMC), an event in which teams of amateur and professional birders take to the field to count birds throughout the state and nation. Traditionally held on the second Saturday in May, the objective is to count all individual birds of every species encountered within the assigned geographic area. This year’s count will take place on Saturday, May 10. The counts are conducted according to county lines. The coordinator for each county divides up participants into teams or individuals in an attempt to cover as many different habitats in the county as possible within the 24-hour period. The teams count not only migrant birds, but also those that reside in the county year-round. The Arizona Field Ornithologists (AZFO) says the purpose of the count is to: * Obtain a “snapshot” of the progress and “shape” of spring migration. * Obtain information on the abundance and distribution of each species. * Initiate more participation among birders within a state and between states. * Create challenges and goals among birders while collecting useful information. * Aid in organization and centralization of date. * Have fun. According to Eric Hough, county coordinator for both Navajo and Apache counties, last year’s Navajo County count broke the previous years’ records for number of participants with 20 people in the field. Records for numbers of birds and species were also broken, with teams counting 4,686 individual birds of 155 different species. A NAMC announcement put out by AZFO states, “Any time commitment is appreciated on the count day, whether it is tallying birds in your yard for a half-hour or traversing countless miles of road or trail throughout the day.” Anyone interested in participating in the Navajo or Apache county bird count this year is asked to contact Hough at thebirdwhisperer22@yahoo.com. For those interested in helping with a count in another county, a list of county coordinators can be found at http://azfo.org/namc/aznamc.html.