CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - A SNAPSHOT OF WINTER BIRDS

Eastern Bluebirds favor orchards during winter.

During the winter months, it is not uncommon to hear the question, “Where are all the birds?”

A flip answer would be - “They’ve gone south” - which they have. Most of the birds which fill our landscapes during the summer are tropical birds which return to the tropics in Central and South America during our winter months. Most of the warblers, vireos, thrushes, and flycatchers fall into this category. Many other birds move to the milder climate of the southern states: This includes many species of waterfowl, wading birds, and raptors, plus some of the hardy songbirds.

On the other hand, boreal species from the north also move south, driven by changes in the weather, but also, and probably more importantly, by the availability of food in their northern homes. Food availability means that some winters they more or less stay home, while other winters they irrupt southward. When there is an irruption, we may notice their numbers. When they stay home, we may ask that question about where they are.

Common Redpoll has irrupted into New England this winter.

As we watch our feeders, or wander about on our skis or snow shoes during winter months, it often seems as though we are seeing very few birds compared to what we remember seeing in other years. For example, two years ago during the holidays, my feeders were inundated with northern birds. Flocks of Common Redpolls, and mixed flocks of Evening Grosbeaks and redpolls descended in swarms. I was filling my bulk feeders twice a day. This year as of the time of writing, my feeders have been visited by a small flocks of 15 redpolls, while the grosbeaks have been completely absent.

In October, flocks of 200+ Pine Siskins swarmed about my feeders. During December they have been absent. Where are they? Undoubtedly, they have gone further south, in spite of the dependable food source at my feeders ... because ... birds do not simply rely on bird feeders, but in fact, derive most of their food most of the time from naturally occurring food sources. If those sources do not seem adequate, they move on.

White-breasted Nuthatch is a year-round feeder bird.

There are two citizen science projects which provide a snapshot of where the birds are during the winter. One is the Great Backyard Bird Count. This is primarily a feeder count which is conducted on the President’s Day weekend in February. To learn how you can participate (in the comfort of your home) visit this website: www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

The second citizen science project is the Christmas Bird Count. In its 113th year, the CBC engages over 60,000 people in about 2500 locations.

There are several Christmas Bird Counts done in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire. I participate in the Brattleboro Area CBC on the third Saturday in December, so that is the one I can write about.  Here is a snapshot of where the birds are around Brattleboro.

Many participants returned from their day of counting speaking of how hard it was to find birds and how low the numbers were. But when the counts were tallied, the number of birds counted (4100) was slightly above the ten year average (3900).

With open water in the Connecticut and West Rivers, waterfowl were well represented by Canada Goose, Mallard, and American Black Duck. Most significant was the number of Hooded Mergansers. Consistently present on the count, this year the 138 “hoodies” was five times greater than in any previous year.

The winter finches and boreal species showed no consistency as a group. The American Goldfinch was hard to find and the count was the lowest in the last 15 years. Pine Siskin, so abundant in October, was absent. Evening Grosbeak, consistently present the last 11 years was absent. There are usually a few Purple Finches in December; not this year.

Pine Grosbeaks appear in SE Vermont every 5 or 6 years.

On the other hand, Pine Grosbeaks appear every 5 to 6 years. This was their year. Common Redpolls show a consistent pattern of being present every other year. This was the year they were expected, and they did not disappoint; counters tabulated the largest number of redpolls (almost 300) in recent years.

Sparrows were hard to find, but the winter sparrows, American Tree Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco were within their expected numbers, along with small numbers of Song and White-throated Sparrows.

Red-bellied Woodpecker has continued its expansion in Vermont.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker which first nested in Vermont in Brattleboro in 2001 continued its steady population increase.

Blue Jay and American Crow had their smallest numbers in years. Putney Mountain Hawk Watch counts migrating Blue Jays (when not counting hawks); they counted hundreds of jays. Apparently, the Blue Jays kept on moving because they were difficult to find in the Brattleboro area.

Other common feeders birds were present in average or above average numbers: Black-capped Chickadee (up), White-breasted Nuthatch (up), Downy Woodpecker (down slightly), Tufted Titmouse and Northern Cardinal (steady).

American Robin often winter in Vermont, feeding on fruit.

Some species are seen in flocks, and may be very localized. Horned Larks were in Vernon (180). Eastern Bluebirds were mostly in Dummerston (total 59 verses 10 year average 25). American Robins were scattered, but with a large flock in an old Dummerston orchard (total 244 verses 10 year average 44). Only one small flock of Cedar Waxwings (31) was found around Sunset Lake.

There are always a few birds which should have migrated, but have not. Brattleboro recorded this year a Red-shouldered Hawk and a Common Yellowthroat (a first CBC record for Brattleboro).

If you are a reader who is worried about a lack of birds at the bird feeders, I say, “Don’t be.” The CBC suggests that the birds are still around. Except when humans really screw up the environment, the birds are resilient and adaptable. Their population numbers go through regular and natural fluctuations. Once the counters on a CBC thaw out and examine the count numbers, this is confirmed (for most species) year after year.

Stay warm, and if the birds don’t come to your feeders, go out and look for them. Good birding!!

CBC Shows Trends in Winter Bird Populations

This post appeared in "The Commons," January 4, 2012

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT - A Citizen Science Project

On a cold Saturday in December, cars crept along the dirt roads of Windham County. Periodically they disgorged their occupants. Bundled against the cold, these people then craned necks as they studied the tree tops. They peered into thickets, stared at corn fields, and searched ponds and rivers. They were doing the Christmas Bird Count.

Black-capped Chickadee

It was the 112th Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the CBC engages over 60,000 people in citizen science between December 14 and January 5. They count birds in over 2200 areas in 107 countries. Most of these areas are in North America where early winter weather can vary in any location from the delightful to the gosh-awful.

It all started in 1900. Back then it was customary for the “gentry” to choose teams and spend a day out-of-doors shooting at anything and everything that moved. The winning team was the one which could produce the most dead birds (or any other animals) at the end of the day. Frank Chapman thought there might be an alternative for this time of wildlife slaughter; he organized a Christmas bird count. Chapman was Curator of Birds at the American Museum of Natural History, editor of Bird-Lore magazine, and a founder of National Audubon Society.

The first CBC involved 27 people in 25 locations. 36 species were reported from Pacific Grove, California, the largest list of birds. Chapman himself had the second largest list; he reported eighteen species from Englewood, New Jersey. Today, the species count from Pacific Grove exceeds 170 species, and from Englewood the count exceeds 70 species. Last year in the United States, 646 species were tallied on CBCs, plus an additional 45 field-identifiable forms.

American Redstart - first record for Brattleboro Area CBC

The first CBC in the Brattleboro area was done in 1903. Eight species were reported: Downy Woodpecker, 2; chickadee (presumably the Black-capped), 18; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 1; White-breasted Nuthatch, 8; Brown Creeper 4; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 4; White-throated Sparrow, 2; and American Tree Sparrow, 2.

The Brattleboro area did not participate again until 1948 when sixteen species were reported. In 1949, fourteen species were reported, and in 1953, eighteen species. The regular participation of Brattleboro area bird watchers in the CBC did not begin until 1963, but since then (with the exception of 1965 and 1969), Brattleboro area has participated every year. During the 1960s, the Brattleboro area averaged 30 birds. The average has increased steadily in the decades since: 1970s,  34; 1980s, 39; 1990s, 40. Since 2000, the average has been 56. This year at the end of the count day, the species tally for Brattleboro was 56. In nearby Bellows Falls, 64 species were observed.

The increase in the number of species can be accounted for, in part, by the growing popularity of bird watching and by the increased skill of the watchers. More skilled birders are going to find more species of birds.

Canada Geese on Retreat Meadows

But there are also other factors which account for the growing number of species being seen. All of the early Brattleboro counts were virtually lacking in waterfowl. Not until the early 1990s do ducks and geese begin to appear regularly. The most significant change in the records are for Canada Geese.  Wildlife management and protection programs have been so successful that the population of the Canada Goose has burgeoned, to the point where some birders now refer to these geese as “pond starlings.”

Waterfowl need open water. When freezing temperatures come early and close the waters of the Retreat Meadows and Connecticut River, the number and variety of waterfowl is low. The lack of waterfowl reports from the mid-1960s through the 1980s suggests that during these years December was colder and winter came early. This year, with open water, there were over 500 Canada Geese counted in the Brattleboro area and over 1000 in Bellows Falls.

Through early December, many people remarked about the lack of birds at their feeders. The Brattleboro CBC confirmed this. The number of traditional feeder birds, such as chickadees and nuthatches was lower, but not unusually so. These birds were not seen at feeders. On several occasions, I heard a low chip. I “phished” loud and long, and soon the chickadees hurried over to investigate, along with companions such as Downy Woodpecker, a nuthatch or Tree Sparrow or cardinal.

Dark-eyed Junco

On one occasion, the forest floor was alive with the movement of Dark-eyed Juncos. I eventually wrote down 60 juncos, but the number could easily have been 2 or 3 times that. They were feeding in the leaf litter. They were not ground scratching around bird feeders. The same was true for goldfinches. Our team saw several significant flocks, feeding in trees and fields, but only a rare goldfinch or two at a feeder. Often as we searched thickets, we remarked on the number of fruits and berries on trees, bushes, and vines. In other words, it appears that there is plenty of natural food available, so the “feeder” birds do not have to visit feeders so often, or at all.

While it often seemed that we had to search hard for birds to count, by the end of the day our count numbers were within the expected ranges. There were a couple of exceptions. Brattleboro CBC did not record a single Wild Turkey, but then, why should the turkeys come out of the woods if there is plenty of food in the woods? (It was recorded during count week.) Junco and goldfinch numbers were the highest recorded on a Brattleboro CBC. Bellows Falls also recorded unusually high numbers for these species.

Snowy Owl - first record for Brattleboro area CBC

An exciting aspect of the CBC are the first sightings that occasionally occur. This year Brattleboro had two. The Snowy Owl which was first seen near the West River in Brattleboro on December 2, and later photographed December 11 atop the chimney of New England Youth Theater, stayed around for a sighting during the count week, a first record. Also recorded on the count day was an American Redstart, juvenile or female, visiting a feeder in Brattleboro.

A scientist might describe the data collection of the citizens on a CBC as a bit “loosy-goosy.” The counting is often imprecise guess-timates. Nevertheless, the CBC gives a snapshot of what is where and from accumulated data over a span of years, patterns emerge.

For example, the northward expansion and established year-round presence of southern species is evident in the CBC records: Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Mockingbird, and Carolina Wren.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The Red-bellied Woodpecker was recorded sporadically is the mid to late 1990s. The first recorded nesting in Vermont occurred in Brattleboro in 2001. In the Brattleboro area there has been a slow but steady increase in the number and distribution of this southern woodpecker during the last ten years and that is reflected in the CBC numbers.

The Bald Eagle, absent on CBCs prior to 2002, is now consistently observed. The breeding pair in the vicinity of the Vernon Dam have open water through the winter in which to fish, and remain on territory. With a pair now nesting north of Bellows Falls, the eagle is also being recorded regularly on the CBC in that area.

The Common Raven was silent 50 years ago in the West River Valley and surrounding hills. It reappeared on CBCs in the early 80s; the presence of the resident ravens is dependably heard in their “cur-ruk, cur-ruk.”

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird was absent from the Brattleboro CBC until 1992. Since 1998, this species has been recorded every year on the count, and this year the Brattleboro CBC counted a record number. The bluebird is not common during the winter, but no one should be surprised to see a bluebird during any month.

Finally - American Robin. People are often surprised to see the robin in winter. Don’t be. They are present on the CBC every year. Bellows Falls had a record number at 602. Brattleboro counted 99, not a record, but close to it. The robin may be seen during any month of the year.

For all readers worried about a lack of birds at the bird feeders, I say, “Don’t be.” The CBC suggests that the birds are still around, but there is plenty of natural food available. I’m sure they will be back. Except when humans really screw up the environment, the birds are resilient and adaptable. Their population numbers go through regular and natural fluctuations. Once the counters on a CBC thaw out and examine the count numbers, this is confirmed (for most species) year after year.

Stay warm, and if the birds don’t come to your feeders, go out and look for them. Good birding!!

Counting Birds

Rock Pigeon

Rock Pigeons came to North America with the early colonists. They swirl in clouds over towns and cities. They fill ridge lines and cornices of buildings. They find crevices and ledges for nests. Their highly acidic excrement hastens corrosion of metal and deterioration of stonework. They are viewed often as urban pests, rats on wings.

House Sparrows were released in New York City in 1850. By 1910 they had spread to California, filling empty spaces with their toneless songs, finding food in horse barns, feed stores, urban and town streets. Sometimes the only bird in a barren city landscape, these nondescript birds often appear as dingy as their habitat.

European Starling

European Starlings were released in New York City in 1890. An industrialist with too much money and too little sense wanted the city park to be filled with all the birds mentioned by William Shakespeare. Within thirty years, starlings were common throughout the eastern United States, and they kept spreading across the continent. Winter flocks fill trees, noisily clicking and clacking and rattling. They ball up in huge dark clouds over barren fields.

A few people like these birds. They throw bread crumbs to pigeons in parks or see the House Sparrow as the only bird which comes to their city bird feeder. Many more people do not like these birds. They are invasive exotics. Birders don’t like them. Public health officials and city building owners who must fight the effects of their guano don’t like them.

I confess to a grudging admiration for these birds. In North America, they have adapted, often to harsh habitats created by humans - like barren towns and cities where they survive by feeding on our garbage.

For the most part, they have also hit an ecological balance. Admittedly, the numbers of pigeons, starlings and House Sparrows often approach “hoard” status. But, the population of any species fluctuates, and over time that fluctuation is proscribed by what their habitat can support.

House Sparrow

If there were no controls on the population of these invasive exotics, I would expect that their numbers would increase year after year. But that is not happening. My evidence is the Christmas Bird Count.

In the Brattleboro area, the CBC for pigeons, starlings, and House Sparrows varies from year to year, sometimes dramatically. Nevertheless, over the last several years, there is some consistency. The pigeon count has ranged from a low of 133 to a high of 414 with an average of 282. Starlings have ranged from 165 to 640, with an average of 347. House Sparrows have ranged from 72 to 299 and average 199. Year to year differences might be explained by whether the counters saw the flocks during their count day and how adept they were at counting large numbers in flight or roosting. What is clear is that there is no upward trend, and for that matter, no pattern or trend of any sort that I can see or imagine. These invasive exotics are here to stay, but it also appears that they  have found their habitat balance.

This is a long introduction to the Brattleboro Area CBC which was done last Saturday. Looking at count results over a period of years shows that this not just a day long exercise by a bunch of bird nerds. As teams of counters cover the same area and employ consistent methods, data is gathered. That data can then be gleaned for information. I have just given an example of what the data might be telling us about the exotic species.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

The date also tells us that the Red-bellied Woodpecker which began to show up on CBCs in the early 1990s is now a well-established resident, on its way to becoming relatively common. The last three years have been the highest count years for this species, with this year the highest.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is the most recent of the southern species to extend its range northward and establish itself as a year-round resident. It was preceded by the Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Mockingbird, and Carolina Wren. The data also suggests that the Carolina Wren is the most tenuous of these southern species that have moved northward.

The CBC confirms the success of some conservation efforts, habitat improvements, and species recovery.

Common Raven

“Cur-ruk, cur-ruk” from the Common Raven was silent 50 years ago in the West River Valley and surrounding hills. It reappeared on CBCs in the early 80s. Ten ravens were recorded on the CBC this year, a record.

The Bald Eagle, absent on CBCs prior to 2002, is now consistently observed. The breeding pair in the vicinity of the Vernon Dam have open water through the winter in which to fish, and remain on territory.


The Wild Turkey was extirpated from most of New England my the mid-1800s. In 1970 they were reintroduced in Vermont. Winter flocks are nomadic and CBC numbers fluctuate wildly, but they are consistently recorded.

Eastern Bluebird

The Eastern Bluebird were absent from the CBC until 1992. Since 2000, this species has been recorded every year on the count. It may not be common during the winter, but no one should be surprised to see a bluebird during any month.

Finally - American Robin. People are often surprised to see the robin in winter. Don’t be. They are present on the CBC every year, and may be seen any month of the year.

The Brattleboro Area CBC had 32 people in 7 teams doing the field counts. Additional people did feeder counts at their homes. Collectively, the seven teams drove 280 miles, walked an additional six miles, and logged 185 people hours. Unlike so many years, it was a delightful winter day, with brilliant blue skies,  pleasant winter temperatures, only a dusting of snow, and only a few icy spots when walking. It made for a day of good birding.