PITTSBURGH — A rainy and mild late December influenced birdwatchers as well as the birds for the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Pittsburgh.

With 215 participants, it was an average year for volunteers who counted almost 36,000 birds of 76 species.

"We had many more planned to participate and we still had an excellent number of volunteers," said Brian Shema, operations manager for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and coordinator of the Pittsburgh Christmas count.

"But with the freakin' rain we get on every count hindered that."

The rain made for a slow day for people counting at backyard feeders as well, he added.

Rain, temperatures, volunteer ranks and other factors are weighed when National Audubon works with the raw data submitted by Pittsburgh and other count areas, Shema said.

The Christmas bird count is the national annual census of the birds with volunteers braving whatever weather conditions Mother Nature throws.

Conservationists started the first Christmas Bird Count in 1900 as a humane alternative to the tradition of hunting birds on Christmas Day. Since then, the Christmas count has been held in more than 20 countries with the long-term data used by scientists to gauge population trends.

The count is always scheduled for the first Saturday after Christmas in Pittsburgh — Dec. 30 this time — with other dates elsewhere.

There weren't many rare or unusual species this year, save for a red-headed woodpecker, Shema said.

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