This year is the 125th Christmas Bird Count conducted by the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge in partnership with the National Audubon Society.

Birders, outdoors enthusiasts and those interested in learning more are invited to the Roosevelt Park Zoo parking lot on Sunday at 8 a.m. From there, volunteers will split into teams in search of any birds they can spot, count and identify within a 15-mile diameter area surrounding the zoo. Volunteers searching for birds will follow planned routes, divided among them to cover the survey area.

Any birds seen during the count are tracked and logged, then the numbers are reported to the National Audubon Society and added to a massive database which tracks bird population trends across time and space.

Volunteers need to bring binoculars and have clothes suited to being outside.