107th Christmas Bird Count summary for Florida, and Glen Woolfenden memorial
111th Christmas Bird Count summary for Florida
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Ruby-crowned Kinglets had their lowest total in 10 years with 1831; the 10-year average for that species is 2786. The Gray Catbird total was 219, the second highest count ever. The count of American Pipits was 1973, a new high by 270, led by the 1010 counted inland at Dublin. Last year’s high pipit count was led by coastal numbers. The second highest CBC totals were posted by Cedar Waxwings with 7799, and Orange-crowned Warblers with 76. Thirty-eight Yellow-throated Warblers was the fourth highest count, and the 88 Black-and-white Warblers was a new high total. Savannah Sparrows had their second highest total with 3133, the highest count being 1526 at Cumberland Island. The third highest count ever for Swamp Sparrows was 1445, and White- crowned Sparrows posted their best count ever with 181, topping the old record by 62. Carter’s Lake led the way with 56. A count week Rose-breasted Grosbeak at St. Catherines was only the second CBC record in the state. Baltimore Orioles continue to winter in larger numbers, or to be found in larger numbers, with a count of 36, a new high by 14. Savannah had the most with a whopping 25. Purple Finches had their highest count since the 91st CBC with 338. FLORIDA Bill Pranty 8515 Village Mill Row Bayonet Point, FL 34667 [email protected] A record-tying 68 CBCs were run in Florida this season. Counts at Jackson County and Lower Keys were skipped, but a count debuted at Choctawhatchee River in the central Panhandle. These CBCs accounted for 8691 accepted observations of 343 taxonomic forms and 2,861,093 individuals. The forms comprise 286 native species, the reintro- duced Whooping Crane, 13 of Florida’s 14 countable exotics (I consider the Purple Swamphen to be established now, and White-winged Parakeet was overlooked for the third consecutive season), 22 known or presumed non-countable exotics, three morphs, two intergrades, one hybrid, and 15 species-groups. Fourteen CBCs, including two inland (*), exceeded 149 species: West Pasco (170), St. Petersburg (167), *Zellwood- Mount Dora (161), North Pinellas (159), Sarasota (159), South Brevard (159), Alafia Banks (157), Aripeka- Bayport (156), *Gainesville (156), Cocoa (155), Jacksonville (155), Merritt Island N.W.R. (155), Ten Thousand Islands (151), and St. Augustine (150). Ten CBCs, four of these inland (*), tal- lied more than 50,000 individuals: Sarasota (633,476, with 600,000 Tree Swallows), Venice-Englewood (521,664, with 500,000 Tree Swallows), *Lakeland (87,367), Merritt Island N.W.R. (77,658), Cocoa (65,731), *Emeralda- Sunnyhill (61,848), Coot Bay-Everglades N.P. (57,753), *Gainesville (57,691), West Pasco (54,635), and *Zellwood- Mount Dora (51,240). Eight species (Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Catbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat) were reported on all 68 counts. In contrast, 37 other native species were seen on only one CBC each, with 29 of these representing single individuals. The 10 species that exceeded 50,000 individuals were Tree Swallow (1,205,611), American Coot (238,110), American Robin (110,160), Laughing Gull (86,393), Yellow-rumped Warbler (69,690), Fish Crow (66,976), Ring- billed Gull (61,214), Lesser Scaup (60,081), Red-winged Blackbird (58,913), and Double-crested Cormorant (50,394). This summary excludes undocument- ed rarities or questionable numbers. Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks num- bered 4210 on 25 counts, while 771 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were reported on four. Large forms of Canada Geese, mostly feral, numbered 831 on 15 counts. Gainesville furnished the state’s sole Ross’s Goose. There were 3615 Muscovy Ducks on 46 counts and 4710 mostly feral Mallards on 51. A huge total of 716 hybrid Mallard x Mottled Ducks came from seven CBCs, includ- ing 470 at St. Petersburg and 158 at Aripeka-Bayport. State and federal biol- ogists seem indifferent to the plight of the Eastern Mottled Duck, which, if CBC data are accurate, appears headed for extirpation unless drastic action is soon undertaken. Two White-cheeked Pintails of doubtful provenance were photographed at Dade County. It was an excellent season for bay ducks. Buffleheads were especially numerous, with 3348 on 33 counts, and triple-digit totals from 9 of these. Wild Turkeys were nearly 11 times more numerous than the rapidly declining Northern Bobwhite: 1513 on 37 counts versus 138 on 15. Common Loons numbered 1702 on 41 counts, led by 475 at Choctawhatchee Bay. The sole Eared Grebe was at Bay County. A great surprise was the Sooty Shearwater photographed at Sarasota. Dry Tortugas N.P. again tallied the only Masked Boobies (65) and Brown Boobies (181). There were 11,097 American White Pelicans on 38 counts, and 20,491 Brown Pelicans on 47, including 62 inland at Lakeland. Among Florida’s 116,315 wading birds were 241 “Great White” Herons, 204 Reddish Egrets, 48,202 White Ibises, 997 Roseate Spoonbills, and 4345 Wood Storks. A White-faced Ibis at West Pasco provided a county first. Participants noted 4005 Ospreys on 65 CBCs and 1456 Bald Eagles on 63. The only kites reported were 90 Snail Kites on five counts. As recently as the 102nd CBC, Sharp-shinned Hawks were the more numerous accipiter in Florida, but no more. This season, num- bers of Cooper’s Hawks were more than twice that of Sharp-shinneds: 367 on 64 counts versus 159 on 50. There were 47 Short-tailed Hawks on 15 counts (not all documented), with one dark morph shockingly north to Choctawhatchee River. Casual in Florida, a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk was adequately detailed at Emeralda-Sunnyhill. Single Golden Eagles graced Jacksonville and 64 AMERICAN BIRDS
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Transcript of 111th Christmas Bird Count summary for Florida
Ruby-crowned Kinglets had their lowesttotal in 10 years with 1831; the 10-yearaverage for that species is 2786. TheGray Catbird total was 219, the secondhighest count ever. The count ofAmerican Pipits was 1973, a new highby 270, led by the 1010 counted inlandat Dublin. Last year’s high pipit countwas led by coastal numbers. The secondhighest CBC totals were posted byCedar Waxwings with 7799, andOrange-crowned Warblers with 76.Thirty-eight Yellow-throated Warblerswas the fourth highest count, and the 88Black-and-white Warblers was a newhigh total.
Savannah Sparrows had their secondhighest total with 3133, the highestcount being 1526 at CumberlandIsland. The third highest count ever forSwamp Sparrows was 1445, and White-crowned Sparrows posted their bestcount ever with 181, topping the oldrecord by 62. Carter’s Lake led the waywith 56. A count week Rose-breastedGrosbeak at St. Catherines was only thesecond CBC record in the state.Baltimore Orioles continue to winter inlarger numbers, or to be found in largernumbers, with a count of 36, a newhigh by 14. Savannah had the mostwith a whopping 25. Purple Fincheshad their highest count since the 91stCBC with 338.
FLORIDABill Pranty8515 Village Mill Row
Bayonet Point, FL 34667
A record-tying 68 CBCs were run inFlorida this season. Counts at JacksonCounty and Lower Keys were skipped,but a count debuted at ChoctawhatcheeRiver in the central Panhandle. TheseCBCs accounted for 8691 acceptedobservations of 343 taxonomic formsand 2,861,093 individuals. The formscomprise 286 native species, the reintro-duced Whooping Crane, 13 of Florida’s14 countable exotics (I consider thePurple Swamphen to be establishednow, and White-winged Parakeet was
overlooked for the third consecutive season),22 known or presumed non-countableexotics, three morphs, two intergrades,one hybrid, and 15 species-groups.
Fourteen CBCs, including two inland(*), exceeded 149 species: West Pasco(170), St. Petersburg (167), *Zellwood-Mount Dora (161), North Pinellas(159), Sarasota (159), South Brevard(159), Alafia Banks (157), Aripeka-Bayport (156), *Gainesville (156),Cocoa (155), Jacksonville (155), MerrittIsland N.W.R. (155), Ten ThousandIslands (151), and St. Augustine (150).Ten CBCs, four of these inland (*), tal-lied more than 50,000 individuals:Sarasota (633,476, with 600,000 TreeSwallows), Venice-Englewood (521,664,with 500,000 Tree Swallows), *Lakeland(87,367), Merritt Island N.W.R.(77,658), Cocoa (65,731), *Emeralda-Sunnyhill (61,848), Coot Bay-EvergladesN.P. (57,753), *Gainesville (57,691),West Pasco (54,635), and *Zellwood-Mount Dora (51,240). Eight species(Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, MourningDove, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Catbird,Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler,and Common Yellowthroat) werereported on all 68 counts. In contrast,37 other native species were seen ononly one CBC each, with 29 of theserepresenting single individuals. The 10species that exceeded 50,000 individualswere Tree Swallow (1,205,611),American Coot (238,110), AmericanRobin (110,160), Laughing Gull(86,393), Yellow-rumped Warbler(69,690), Fish Crow (66,976), Ring-billed Gull (61,214), Lesser Scaup(60,081), Red-winged Blackbird (58,913),and Double-crested Cormorant (50,394).
This summary excludes undocument-ed rarities or questionable numbers.Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks num-bered 4210 on 25 counts, while 771Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were reportedon four. Large forms of Canada Geese,mostly feral, numbered 831 on 15counts. Gainesville furnished the state’ssole Ross’s Goose. There were 3615Muscovy Ducks on 46 counts and 4710mostly feral Mallards on 51. A huge
total of 716 hybrid Mallard x MottledDucks came from seven CBCs, includ-ing 470 at St. Petersburg and 158 atAripeka-Bayport. State and federal biol-ogists seem indifferent to the plight ofthe Eastern Mottled Duck, which, ifCBC data are accurate, appears headedfor extirpation unless drastic action issoon undertaken. Two White-cheekedPintails of doubtful provenance werephotographed at Dade County. It wasan excellent season for bay ducks.Buffleheads were especially numerous,with 3348 on 33 counts, and triple-digittotals from 9 of these. Wild Turkeyswere nearly 11 times more numerousthan the rapidly declining NorthernBobwhite: 1513 on 37 counts versus138 on 15.
Common Loons numbered 1702 on41 counts, led by 475 at ChoctawhatcheeBay. The sole Eared Grebe was at BayCounty. A great surprise was the SootyShearwater photographed at Sarasota.Dry Tortugas N.P. again tallied the onlyMasked Boobies (65) and BrownBoobies (181). There were 11,097American White Pelicans on 38 counts,and 20,491 Brown Pelicans on 47,including 62 inland at Lakeland.Among Florida’s 116,315 wading birdswere 241 “Great White” Herons, 204Reddish Egrets, 48,202 White Ibises,997 Roseate Spoonbills, and 4345Wood Storks. A White-faced Ibis atWest Pasco provided a county first.
Participants noted 4005 Ospreys on65 CBCs and 1456 Bald Eagles on 63.The only kites reported were 90 SnailKites on five counts. As recently as the102nd CBC, Sharp-shinned Hawkswere the more numerous accipiter inFlorida, but no more. This season, num-bers of Cooper’s Hawks were more thantwice that of Sharp-shinneds: 367 on 64counts versus 159 on 50. There were 47Short-tailed Hawks on 15 counts (notall documented), with one dark morphshockingly north to ChoctawhatcheeRiver. Casual in Florida, a light-morphRough-legged Hawk was adequatelydetailed at Emeralda-Sunnyhill. SingleGolden Eagles graced Jacksonville and
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Melrose. Crested Caracaras totaled 67 on13 CBCs, with 17 at STA5-Clewistonand 13 at Lake Placid. Statewide falcontotals were 2563 American Kestrels on67 counts, 74 Peregrine Falcons on 33,and 63 Merlins also on 33.
Single Black Rails enlivened Cocoaand West Pasco. STA5-Clewiston fur-nished 75 Purple Swamphens.Emeralda-Sunnyhill and Lakeland tal-lied 50 Purple Gallinules each, with 49on 12 other counts. Populations ofLimpkins appear to be exploding inresponse to the introduction ofChanneled Apple Snails from SouthAmerica. This season, 784 Limpkinswere totaled on 39 CBCs, among these
100 at West Palm Beach, 90 at STA5-Clewiston, 87 at Lakeland, 77 at Tampa,and 75 at Sarasota. Nearly 17,000Sandhill Cranes were tallied, with 5600at Gainesville and 2000 each at LakePlacid and Melrose. Snowy Ploversnumbered 89 on eight counts, while 58Piping Plovers were found on nine.Continuing their precipitous decline,there were only 480 Red Knots on 14counts. Key Largo-Plantation Key pro-duced eight Semipalmated Sandpipers(supported by perhaps the best docu-mentation form I have ever seen), withthree others at Coot Bay-Everglades N.P.Eleven species of gulls were found thisseason. Highlights were Florida’s first
Kelp Gull (pending approval of theFlorida Ornithological Society RecordsCommittee) discovered on the WestPasco CBC, Franklin’s Gull atChoctawhatchee Bay, Thayer’s Gull atCocoa, and Black-legged Kittiwake atMerritt Island N.W.R. Black-backed gulltallies were 491 Lessers on 17 counts and323 Greats on 16. Five Common Ternswere accepted, duos at Cocoa and Tampaand one at Apalachicola Bay-St. VincentN.W.R. There were 9263 BlackSkimmers on 38 counts, with 1200 at St.Augustine and birds inland on four counts.
Eurasian Collared-Doves numbered9060 on 62 counts, while White-wingedDoves increased to 954 on 40. Sixteenspecies of psittacids were tallied, led by10 at Dade County. Twenty Budgerigarspersisted at Aripeka-Bayport. MonkParakeets numbered (only) 1051 on 19counts, while Black-hooded Parakeetstotaled 482 on 12. The only otherpsittacids exceeding 99 individuals were319 Mitred Parakeets, mostly at KendallArea, and 102 White-eyed Parakeets, allat Dade County. A surprising 40 Blue-and-yellow Macaws were found at DadeCounty (12) and Kendall Area (28).Fort Myers accounted for 88 percent ofthe state’s 231 Burrowing Owls. LesserNighthawks were at Coot Bay-Everglades N.P. and Kendall Area.Florida’s 180 hummingbirds were divid-ed into 131 Ruby-throated, 11 Rufous,four Black-chinned, one Allen’s, oneBuff-bellied, and 32 not identifiedspecifically. Impressive counts of Red-headed Woodpeckers were 89 atIchetucknee-Santa Fe-O’Leno and 55 atMelrose. Totals of rare picoides were 34Red-cockaded Woodpeckers on six countsand 33 Hairy Woodpeckers on 16.
Ash-throated Flycatchers were foundat Gainesville, Ichetucknee-Santa Fe-O’Leno, and Zellwood-Mount Dora,with Brown-crested Flycatchers at LongPine Key and (count week) West PalmBeach. One Cassin’s Kingbird returnedto STA5-Clewiston. Scissor-tailedFlycatchers and Western Kingbirds eachnumbered 23 individuals on sevenCBCs. Loggerhead Shrikes totaled 1803
THE 111TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 65
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus), Alafia Banks, Florida. Photo/Bill Pranty
Count circles inFLORIDA
on 63 CBCs, with 157 at Peace River,150 at Fort Myers, and 137 at CorkscrewSwamp Sanctuary. A Bell’s Vireo gracedKendall Area, and a well-describedYellow-throated Vireo was north toEmeralda-Sunnyhill. Florida Scrub-Jaystotaled 383 on 20 counts. One of threeBarn Swallows at Long Pine Key wasphotographed, providing a very rare win-ter record. Two Red-breasted Nuthatcheswere south to Cedar Key. Tallahasseeagain provided all White-breastedNuthatches (8). Twenty-plus counts ofGolden-crowned Kinglets came from St.Marks (25) and Choctawhatchee River(23). There were 67 Common Mynas onfour CBCs, and only two Hill Mynas atKendall Area. Apalachicola Bay-St. VincentN.W.R. again furnished all (3) Sprague’sPipits. Cedar Waxwings numbered 3234on 35 CBCs, with 650 at Gainesville.
Twenty-two warbler species wereaccepted, with unique reports ofNashville at Long Pine Key, Worm-eating at Kendall Area, and LouisianaWaterthrush at Dade County. A maleHooded Warbler photographed at St.Petersburg provided perhaps only thesecond winter record in Florida. Asalways, the two most numerous warblerswere Yellow-rumped (69,690) and Palm(19,938), both found on all 68 counts.Ten Summer Tanagers were found onnine CBCs, plus count week on twoothers. The most abundant sparrowswere Chipping (7609 on 52 counts),Savannah (4632 on 63), and Swamp(3299 on 55). Lark Sparrows were doc-umented at Flagler, Lake Wales, St.Petersburg, and West Palm Beach. AHenslow’s Sparrow was south to AvonPark A.F. Range. Aripeka-Bayport fur-nished all four Le Conte’s Sparrows.“Sharp-tailed” sparrow tallies were 93Nelson’s on 12 counts, six Saltmarsh onthree (including one photographed atBradenton), and one not identified.Although not detailed, a Snow Buntingat Flagler was presumably the “taillesswonder” enjoyed by dozens of birdersthroughout December.
Amazingly, a female Blue Grosbeakand a male Lazuli Bunting were pho-
tographed at feeders at Econlockhatchee.There were 494 Painted Buntings on 37counts, including 104 at Cocoa. It wasa good winter for Rusty Blackbirds,with 421 on five counts, including 275at Choctawhatchee River and 120 atGainesville. Choctawhatchee River alsofurnished 600 Brewer’s Blackbirds, with10 others at Pensacola. Four euphagusspecies were far south to Fakahatchee.Kendall Area again furnished the soleShiny Cowbird (count week). DadeCounty reported 107 Bronzed Cowbirds,with two others at Lakeland. An adultmale Orchard Oriole was photographedat Aripeka-Bayport. Spot-breastedOrioles numbered five at Dade Countyand two at West Palm Beach. Adequatedetails were provided for six PurpleFinches at Ichetucknee-Santa Fe-O’Leno.House Finches totaled 967 individuals on38 CBCs, while House Sparrows num-bered 2858 on 50.
Bruce H. Anderson again reviewednearly all the 180 or so documentationforms, a major task. I deleted 27 reports(0.35 percent of all observations) thatwere misidentified or submitted withinsufficient or no documentation, and Iappended 50 other reports with the DD(Details Desired) or QN (QuestionableNumber) editorial codes. Florida CBCsare “cleaner” with respect to somespecies (formerly perennial problemssuch as Least Tern, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Eastern Kingbird are almostnever reported now), but there remainsroom for improvement. NorthernRough-winged Swallows, Yellow-throat-ed Vireos, and count week rarities arenow the most troublesome species. Myletter of instruction to compilers is posted tothe website of the Florida OrnithologicalSociety (http://fosbirds.org).
OHIO/WEST VIRGINIA/KENTUCKYCharles W. Hocevar301 Central Avenue, A114
Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
Ohio compilers organized 60Christmas Bird Counts in the state thisseason. That effort included the place-
ment of 1534 field observers to covertheir respective areas on count day.Cuyahoga Falls was responsible for 102counters, while Ragersville andCincinnati each added more than 90each. There were, however, 14 OhioCBCs that made this endeavor withfewer than 10 people in the field. Thebrave compiler at Mt. Gilead had onlyone companion.
The results of this effort included amonumental estimated effort of 3780hours in the field on count day. Thecombined tally provided a wealth ofnoteworthy observations, includingGreater White-fronted Geese atAshtabula and Wooster and CacklingGeese on four Ohio counts (plus anadditional two of the latter during countweek). Nearly 100 Mute Swan werenoted from 17 locations, and 85 TundraSwan were located on six CBCs, almostexclusively in northwestern Ohio. Therealways seems to be a lone report of Blue-winged Teal, Osprey, or Broad-wingedHawk; we missed the Osprey this sea-son, but the teal showed up in Wooster.One very noteworthy find included afemale Harlequin Duck at Lakewood.Scoters were tallied this season, withSurf and White-winged on multiplecounts, while Black Scoter was reportedonly at Lake Erie Islands. Long-tailedDuck was found with reasonable ease inappropriate locations, with eight indi-viduals on four counts. Ohio observersrecorded a remarkable 32 species ofwaterfowl during this period, thanks toLake Erie. West Virginia and Kentucky,elsewhere in this region, recorded 22species and 26 species, respectively.
Ruffed Grouse were rounded up onfour Ohio counts, and NorthernBobwhite reappeared with small groupsrelocated in southern Ohio at AdamsCounty and Cincinnati. There were sev-eral good count week finds, including aRed-necked Grebe report from HooverReservoir and American White Pelicanin Toledo. Black-crowned Night-Heronswere again found in Toledo, and werealso reported from Columbus. Black andTurkey vulture numbers are remarkably
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