Volunteers will train their eagle eyes on a stretch of land near White Oak, Pleasant Valley, and Renzie parks and the Dead Man's Hollow entrance of the Great Allegheny Passage during the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania's annual Christmas Bird Count.
The data collected will help researchers better understand long-term changes in bird population.
Communications director Rachel Handel says Audubon created the new circle after launching a program to help residents attract birds to their yards that's drawn a lot of interest in Mon Valley communities.
"We found that people really hadn't had access to a lot of designated programming that was nature-oriented."
The volunteers will be looking for common birds like cardinals and robins, because Audubon wants to know what the number and health of birds say about their habitat, according to Handel.
"If birds are living well and birds are healthy, that means the environment is healthy, the water is healthy, the air is healthy."
Audubon says the bird count is the longest-running citizen-science project for birds in the U.S.
The final tally of birds is due in January.
