Walking along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail on Saturday morning, counting the birds flying around the woods of the Saltsburg and Slickville areas, Alex Busato said the tally serves a larger purpose than just counting birds one day in the winter.
The Christmas Day bird counts in some sections of Westmoreland County have been ongoing for more than 60 years, which shows a trend that can be used to monitor the movement of breeds into the state and those that are leaving the state because of shifts in climate, said Busato, 25, president of the Westmoreland Bird and Nature Club.
The data suggests more birds, such as the gray catbird, are remaining in Pennsylvania over the winter and making shorter migrations to places such as Virginia because of warmer temperatures in the state, said Busato, a science teacher at the Valley School of Ligonier, near Rector…