Volunteers Do Annual Bird Count At San Francisco Zoo

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) --- Birds watchers from the Golden Gate Audubon Society fanned out at the San Francisco Zoo Tuesday for the annual Christmas bird count. They say the survey can be used to gauge the health of the environment.

Audubon volunteer Dan Murphy, who has been doing the count for years, spent the morning with about a dozen others spent the morning at the zoo, totaling up the birds they saw.

"We got the snowy plovers and the gulls and a few shore birds," he said.

KCBS' Bob Butler Reports:

A drop in the numbers could indicate something is wrong in the environment or that predators are more successful.

The watchers count at the zoo because there are so many birds there.

"Herons and egrets will hang around the lakes where they feed the white pelicans," Murphy said.

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