second highest. Two phalarope specieswere documented: two Wilson’s at SVwere the fifth state CBC records and anew high count, and 12 Red from thebeach at SC were the third CBC recordand second highest total.

Forster’s Terns numbered 2178 (852at SC), a second highest total and muchbetter than last year’s 510. Both RoyalTerns and Black Skimmers made thethird highest state counts ever with 485and 1708, respectively. The count of 12Parasitic Jaegers tied the high count,with 10 at Cumberland Island (CI).

The Common Ground-Dove total of96 (48 at SV) was the third highest ever,and a new high was set for Barn Owlswith 11. Four species of hummingbirdswere noted, a total of eight birds (bothhigh totals): the third CBC Buff-belliedat GC (three years running); four differ-ent Ruby-throated, tying the highcount; one Black-chinned and threeRufous, including two at MA. Threewoodpeckers set new high counts: Red-headed with 393, Red-bellied with1736, and Pileated with 564. Twospecies had the second highest counts:Hairy with 96 and Red-cockaded with54 (45 at Piedmont-Rum Creek [PR]).Somewhat surprising in a warm winterwas the low count of 41 White-eyedVireos, the lowest total in 12 years.Crow numbers continue to vary, withthe second highest count of American at8089 after last year’s record 9199, andFish Crows almost tripled last year’s2198. It was another good year forBrown Creeper with 79, the secondhighest count, including 15 at Athens(AH). Eastern Bluebirds set a new hightotal with 3528. American Pipits felldeeply after last year’s record 1973 to804, after averaging about 1600 the lastsix years. Orange-crowned Warbler setthe second highest count with 77. Againsurprising in a warm winter was thefairly low count of 44 Black-and-whiteWarblers, especially in contrast to lastyear’s record of 88.

Sparrow numbers were generally low,but the best bird of the season was aGreen-tailed Towhee at Lake Oconee

(LO), the state’s first CBC record andonly second record ever. Le Conte’sSparrow did have the second highesttotal of seven, with four at FloydCounty (FC), and the Fox Sparrow totalof 203 was a new high count. Leadingthe way were 55 at ChattahoocheeNational Forest (CH) and 36 at Dublin(DU). Finally, Baltimore Orioles wereagain found in good numbers, tying thesecond highest count with 22; Savannahled the way with 17.

FLORIDABill Pranty8515 Village Mill Row

Bayonet Point, Florida 34667

billpranty@hotmail.com

This 112th season, 68 CBCs were runin Florida. No new counts were added,and counts at Key West and Lower Keyswere skipped. The CBCs accounted for8666 accepted observations of 345 taxo-nomic forms and 3,587,820 individuals.The forms comprise 281 native species,the reintroduced Whooping Crane, 13countable exotics (Red-whiskeredBulbul was overlooked), 28 non-counta-ble exotics, two morphs, one intergrade,two hybrids, and 17 species-groups.

Thirteen CBCs, including three inland(*), exceeded 149 species: West Pasco

(171), North Pinellas (168),*Zellwood–Mount Dora (165), AlafiaBanks (159), Cocoa (159), St. Petersburg(158), *Gainesville (156), St. Marks(156), Sarasota (155), Jacksonville (154),*Lake Placid (152), Aripeka–Bayport(151), and South Brevard (150). NineCBCs, four of these inland (*), talliedmore than 50,000 individuals:Venice–Englewood (1,514,152, with1,500,000 Tree Swallows), Cocoa(225,638, with 155,000 Lesser Scaup),*Econlockhatchee (206,358, with 135,000Tree Swallows), *STA 5–Clewiston(126,892, with 100,000 American Coots),Ponce Inlet (79,944), *Zellwood–MountDora (65,925), *Lakeland (57,353),Merritt Island N.W.R. (55,451), andWest Pasco (53,511). Only five species(Double-crested Cormorant, Great BlueHeron, Belted Kingfisher, Gray Catbird,and Palm Warbler) were reported on all68 counts. Eleven species exceeded50,000 individuals: Tree Swallow(1,802,251), American Coot (227,570),Lesser Scaup (182,003), AmericanRobin (99,699), Fish Crow (84,235),Laughing Gull (73,135), Red-wingedBlackbird (72,931), Yellow-rumpedWarbler (64,146), White Ibis (56,363),Double-crested Cormorant (55,593),and Ring-billed Gull (55,490).

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 65

Count circles inFLORIDA

This summary excludes undocumentedrarities and questionable numbers.(Thanks to all who took the time andeffort to document their observations).Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks num-bered 4066 on 27 counts, while only278 Fulvous Whistling-Ducks werefound on two. Top counts of EgyptianGeese were 57 at Fort Lauderdale and37 at Dade County. There were 3194Muscovy Ducks on 51 counts and 4094mostly feral Mallards on 52. A total of403 Mallard x Mottled Duck hybridswas reported on eight CBCs, including210 at St. Petersburg and 125 atAripeka–Bayport. A male and femaleCinnamon Teal were photographedtogether at Sarasota. There were 1412Wild Turkeys on 39 counts and 305Northern Bobwhites on 26.

A Pacific Loon adequately describedat Ponce Inlet was the sole report.Common Loons numbered 1542 on 47counts. Dry Tortugas N.P. tallied 39Masked Boobies and 248 BrownBoobies. There were 10,654 AmericanWhite Pelicans and 22,574 BrownPelicans statewide, each on 45 counts.Brown Pelicans were inland to Lakeland(119), Lake Placid (six), and WestVolusia (one). Among Florida’s 123,936wading birds were 243 “Great White”Herons, 233 Reddish Egrets, 1492Roseate Spoonbills, and 4674 WoodStorks. One White-faced Ibis was pho-tographed at Zellwood–Mount Dora.The feral flock of American Flamingosat Dade County numbered 202.

There were 4437 Ospreys on 65CBCs and 1543 Bald Eagles on 61.Single White-tailed Kites graced Avon

Park A.F. Range and Long Pine Key.Seventy Snail Kites were found on ninecounts, with 32 at STA5–Clewiston and29 at Kissimmee Valley. Cooper’s Hawksoutnumbered Sharp-shinned Hawksstatewide 415 to 183. A Swainson’sHawk was detailed at Pensacola and twoothers were photographed at AlafiaBanks, north of their usual winteringrange. There were 40 Short-tailed Hawkson 11 counts (not all documented), with10 at Dade County and eight at TenThousand Islands. An immature GoldenEagle at Myakka River S.P. was the onlyreport. Crested Caracaras totaled 61 on13 CBCs, with 17 at Lake Placid and 10at Fort Pierce. Statewide falcon totalswere 2398 American Kestrels on 67counts, 77 Merlins on 42, and 71Peregrine Falcons on 26.

Single Black Rails were documentedat Crystal River and Long Pine Key.STA5–Clewiston tallied 70 PurpleSwamphens, with three others at FortLauderdale. Of the 111 PurpleGallinules statewide, 42 were atLakeland. Limpkins totaled 761 on 44counts, with 98 at Lakeland, 85 atSarasota, 80 at STA5–Clewiston, and 75each at Kissimmee Valley and West PalmBeach. About 14,277 Sandhill Craneswere tallied on 45 counts, with 3600 atLake Placid and 3300 at Gainesville.Statewide totals of small plovers were101 Snowy, 100 Wilson’s, 3506Semipalmated, and 42 Piping. Faringbetter than during the 111th season,648 Red Knots were tallied on 22counts. Long-billed Curlews graced fiveCBCs, all singles except two at Port St.Joe. David Simpson photographed aSanderling at Lake Placid to establishthe first inland record in Florida for anyseason. Semipalmated Sandpipers werephotographed at Coot Bay–EvergladesN.P. (one) and Key Largo–PlantationKey (38). A Wilson’s Phalarope pho-tographed at Zellwood–Mount Doraprovided the first winter record inFlorida. An Iceland Gull was pho-tographed at Jacksonville. Black-backedgull tallies were 727 Lessers on 18counts and 303 Greats on 16. Five

Common Terns were accepted, two at St.Augustine and three at Sanibel–Captiva.Coot Bay–Everglades N.P. tallied 3000Black Skimmers, with 2300 others at St.Augustine. Parasitic Jaegers outnumberedPomarine Jaegers 19 to nine statewide.

Perhaps showing a decline, EurasianCollared-Doves numbered 6292 on 64counts. An African Collared-Dove pho-tographed at West Pasco furnished thefirst Florida CBC report in 10 years.White-winged Doves increased to 1059on 37 counts. Nineteen species ofpsittacids were tallied, led by 14 at DadeCounty. At least 30 Budgerigars per-sisted at Aripeka–Bayport, and five werefound at West Pasco. Monk Parakeetsnumbered 1039 on 19 counts, nearlyeclipsed by the surprising total of 1002Nanday Parakeets on 12. The 450Nandays at St. Petersburg reflected aresurgence from recent under-sampledtotals, but the 270 at West Palm Beachwere an eye-opener. After being over-looked since the 108th CBC, 40 White-winged Parakeets were found at DadeCounty. A count week Mangrove Cuckoowas detailed at Coot Bay–EvergladesN.P. Fort Myers accounted for 87percent of the state’s 254 BurrowingOwls. All four Lesser Nighthawks werefound within Everglades N.P., with threeat Coot Bay–Everglades N.P. and one atLong Pine Key. Florida’s 183 humming-birds were divided into 147 Ruby-throated, four Black-chinned, fourRufous, and 28 not identified specifi-cally. Ninety-three Red-headedWoodpeckers were at Ichetucknee–SantaFe–O’Leno. Totals of rare Picoides(none documented) were 39 HairyWoodpeckers on 13 counts and 38 Red-cockaded Woodpeckers on six.

The Say’s Phoebe near Astatula madeits fifth consecutive appearance on theZellwood–Mount Dora CBC. An Ash-throated Flycatcher at East Pasco and aBrown-crested Flycatcher at Lake Placidfurnished county firsts for Pasco andHighlands, respectively. At STA5–Clewiston,two Cassin’s Kingbirds returned for thefifth winter and a Gray Kingbird wasphotographed. Another Cassin’s was

66 AMERICAN BIRDS

Northern Rough-winged Swallow(Stelgidopteryx serripennis),Aripeka-Bayport, Florida. Photo/Bill Pranty

photographed at Bay County. AnEastern Kingbird was detailed atVenice–Englewood. Nine of the state’s14 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were atSTA5–Clewiston. Loggerhead Shrikestotaled 1850 on 61 CBCs, with 210 atFort Myers, 137 at Corkscrew SwampSanctuary, and 102 at Peace River.Florida Scrub-Jays totaled 382 on 17counts. There were 22 Horned Larks atJackson County. Extralimital swallowssubmitted with documentationincluded Northern Rough-wingedSwallows at Aripeka–Bayport (pho-tographed) and West Pasco (three), twoCave Swallows at West Palm Beach, andBarn Swallows at Cocoa (one), CootBay–Everglades N.P. (two), and SouthBrevard (nine). Tallahassee reported 23White-breasted Nuthatches, withanother at Pensacola. There were 46Common Mynas on four CBCs, with35 at Dade County. A surprising eightSprague’s Pipits were documented: fiveat Apalachicola Bay–St. VincentN.W.R., one at Choctawhatachee Bay,and two inland and south at Gainesville.Cedar Waxwings numbered 2462 on 30CBCs, a rather modest showing.

Twenty-four wood-warblers wereaccepted, with unique reports ofTennessee at North Pinellas (pho-tographed), Prothonotary at SouthBrevard, and Louisiana Waterthrushcount week at Corkscrew SwampSanctuary. Nashville Warblers werenorth to St. Petersburg (photographed)and Alafia Banks. Black-throated BlueWarblers were surprisingly numerous,with 41 on seven counts, including 14 atKendall Area, 10 at Coot Bay–EvergladesN.P., and eight at Dade County. Femaleand male Western Tanagers were pho-tographed at Kendall Area. Prior toNovember 2011, there were four recordsof Green-tailed Towhee in Florida. Thisseason, they were found on four CBCs, atChoctawhatchee Bay, ChoctawhatcheeRiver, Gainesville, and North Pinellas!The most abundant sparrows wereChipping (6440 on 47 counts),Savannah (4613 on 62), and Swamp(3006 on 51). Lark Sparrows were

reported at St. Petersburg (pho-tographed), Zellwood–Mount Dora, andDade County. Fifteen Le Conte’sSparrows were found at Aripeka–Bayportand two others were photographed atEast Pasco. Tallies of “sharp-tailed”sparrows (few detailed) included 150Nelson’s on 17 counts and 74 Saltmarsh onnine (including 16 at Coot Bay–EvergladesN.P.). Jackson County furnished sevenof the state’s 12 Dark-eyed Juncos.

Bunting tallies were 118 Indigo on 16counts (including 29 at West PalmBeach, 22 at STA5–Clewiston, and 20at Lake Placid) and 312 Painted on 37counts (including 77 at Cocoa and 48 atWest Palm Beach). The state’s soleDickcissel was documented at LongPine Key, and the only Yellow-headedBlackbird was at Zellwood–Mount Dora.There were 124 Bronzed Cowbirds atDade County, where now resident. Amale Purple Finch at Pensacola was theonly report. House Finches increased to1384 on 46 CBCs, while HouseSparrows numbered 2513 on 53.

Bruce H. Anderson again reviewednearly all of the 168 documentationforms, a task for which I am grateful. Ideleted 19 reports (0.22 percent of allobservations) that were misidentified orsubmitted with insufficient or no docu-mentation, and I appended 65 otherreports with the DD (Details Desired)or QN (Questionable Number) editorialcodes. My letter of instruction to com-pilers, including comments on most ofthe “troublesome” species, is posted eachDecember to the website of the FloridaOrnithological Society (http://fos-birds.org).

OHIO/WEST VIRGINIA/KENTUCKYCharles W. Hocevar301 Central Avenue, A114

Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

chocevar@aol.com

Two noteworthy occurrences hap-pened in Ohio this CBC season. First ofall, we had extremely mild weatherleading to large numbers of lingeringbirds, and, secondly, we had a count thatrecorded more than 100 species during

the effort. This does not happen withoutthe right day, the right organization, andthe right weather. Toledo alone noted 26species of waterfowl, which exceedsmany individual state totals. Toledo’scount day total was 108 species.

Lingering species were almost toomany to mention, but I will try toprovide a reasonable summary. An occa-sional Osprey is reported from the stateand often questioned; this season thisspecies was reported from four separateOhio counts. A Lesser Yellowlegs wasstill in the Wooster area, and GreatEgrets remained on four Ohio CBCs.The state’s only recent observation ofAmerican Bittern came from the LakeErie Islands, and Rufous Hummingbirdsightings outdid themselves this yearwith four observations in the state.

Warbler reports were numerous withYellow-rumps plentiful and CommonYellowthroat located on several counts.Of more interest was a photographedOvenbird at Hoover Reservoir, anAmerican Redstart at Columbus, a PalmWarbler at Grand Rapids-Waterville,and the state’s only Pine Warbler fromCincinnati. The most unusual observa-tion, however, came from Wilmot wherea Nashville Warbler was reported. Otherlingering species this season includedmany records of Gray Catbird andBrown Thrasher. A Lincoln’s Sparrowand a disoriented Dickcissel remained inthe Toledo area. There were severalrecords this season of Baltimore Orioles,including Millersburg and Wilmot,where the bird was photographed.Other birds remaining because of themild weather included an unusualnumber of Blue-winged Teal and WinterWren. Several other noteworthy linger-ing birds included a White-eyed Vireophotographed in Wooster and a well-documented Blue Gray Gnatcatcher atDelaware Reservoir.

We have probably highlighted enoughof the lingering birds because there werea few observations of species moreboreal in nature. These include a loneRed Crossbill located at Lake ErieIslands and Northern Shrikes reported

THE 112TH CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AMERICAN BIRDS 67