Monday, January 7, 2019

Mitchell SD 2018 Christmas Bird Count Results


About the Audubon CBC

For over 100 years, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) uses volunteers to track bird populations by holding local counts across North and South America. Counts are held between December 14 and January 5 and are composed of volunteers of all birding levels to count birds in the field and at their feeders. Volunteers count birds and tally them by species within a 15 mile diameter count circle. 

About the Mitchell CBC

The Mitchell circle is centered at the Corn Palace.  It encompasses parts of Davison and Hanson counties including the cities of Mitchell and Loomis. The Mitchell count circle can be found at https://arcg.is/0mDr0W.

After a 46 year hiatus, the Mitchell CBC was reinstated in 2013.  The first count was executed in 1957. Two more counts were executed in 1966 and 1967.

Count Summary

The count took place on December 26, 2018 and was the sixth consecutive year to hold the count since reinstatement. There were 9 field observers and 5 feeder watchers.

A winter storm began on the day of the count.  This kept some of our participants from attending. The day started out with snow and visibility was reduced. In the afternoon the snow turned to rain. It was not a good day to be out looking for birds.

On the day of the count we had snow, rain, and wind. Day time temperatures started at 28 F and rose to 36 F. Snow was accumulating in the morning but melted when it began raining. Some moving water was open but most water was frozen. A total of 11 people participated. We had 5 groups of people who birded in the field but 5 groups that watched their feeders. Because of the weather only parts of the circle were covered and only 9.25 hours were spent in the field by our groups.  In comparison feeder watchers spent 21 hours watching their feeders.

We had a total of 1,121 birds composed of 32 species for the count day. There were an additional 6 count week species. Count week species are seen 3 days before or after the count day but not on the count day. The most abundant species was the red-winged blackbird at 285.

One new species was added to the count, a Brown Thrasher.  With limited participation it’s not surprising we had no high counts this year and that there were many low counts. Our best bird was the brown thrasher. Our misses for the count included Northern Shrike and Golden-crowned Kinglet. The only rare bird seen was the Brown Thrasher.

I’ve composed three tables:  Counts for the Year, Counts by Year, and Effort by Year.

Counts for the Year

The following table contains counts for the year.
Species
Total
Ring-necked Pheasant
34

Wild Turkey
168
Northern Harrier
CW
Cooper's Hawk
1
Bald Eagle
1
Red-tailed Hawk
CW
Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's)
CW
Rough-legged Hawk
1
buteo sp.
1
Rock Pigeon
55
Eurasian Collared Dove
35
Mourning Dove
CW
Great Horned Owl
CW
Red-bellied Woodpecker
4
Downy Woodpecker
9
Hairy Woodpecker
5
Northern Flicker
9
Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)
5
falcon sp.
1
Blue Jay
20
American Crow
17
Horned Lark
60
Black-capped Chickadee
11
Red-breasted Nuthatch
2
White-breasted Nuthatch
5
Brown Creeper
CW
American Robin
14
Brown Thrasher
1
European Starling
47
Cedar Waxwing
84
Lapland Longspur
20
American Tree Sparrow
11
Dark-eyed Junco
50
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
14
Northern Cardinal
6
Red-winged Blackbird
285
House Finch
38
Purple Finch
CW
Common Redpoll
4
Pine Siskin
12
American Goldfinch
18
House Sparrow
73

Counts by Year

This table contains counts by year. Note, zero denotes count week species.
Species
1957
1966
1967
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Snow Goose





0

0

Canada Goose



0
50
0
24
0

Wood Duck





1



Mallard
802

43

225
2



Northern Pintail
6








Lesser Scaup





3



Common Merganser
1








Ring-necked Pheasant
26
37
3
194
137
366
141
221
34
Greater Prairie Chicken



10



3

Wild Turkey



104
294
88
162
30
168
Northern Harrier
1


1


1

0
Sharp-shinned Hawk



5
2
3
2
2

Cooper's Hawk



2
1
3
2
2
1
Northern Goshawk



3

1



Bald Eagle



8
3
6
6
8
1
Red-tailed Hawk



15
24
19
28
21
0
Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's)






1

0
Rough-legged Hawk


1
16
3
2
20
11
1
buteo sp.







1
1
Rock Pigeon



112
495
435
131
631
55
Eurasian Collared Dove



68
95
54
179
37
35
Mourning Dove



9
1
0
2

0
Eastern Screech Owl



4
1

1
2

Great Horned Owl
2

3
4
10
2
5
7
0
Snowy Owl




1




Long-eared Owl




1




Short-eared Owl

1







Belted Kingfisher




1
0



Red-bellied Woodpecker



5
9
9
8
5
4
Downy Woodpecker
6
11
2
19
30
32
27
18
9
Hairy Woodpecker
1


5
17
16
13
11
5
Northern Flicker



21
8
20
27
6
9
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
6

1




6
5
American Kestrel



3
1
2
6
3

Merlin



2


2
1

Prairie Falcon





1



falcon sp.








1
Northern Shrike

2

8
3
2
1
1

Blue Jay
12

1
59
37
46
73
37
20
American Crow
21
12
90
12
54
57
15
10
17
Common Raven




1




Horned Lark
30
27
100
43
255
444
4
368
60
Black-capped Chickadee
7
11
6
32
39
34
24
15
11
Tufted Titmouse





0



Red-breasted Nuthatch
4


3
3
3
12
1
2
White-breasted Nuthatch
2

1
10
17
20
20
6
5
Brown Creeper
4
1

8
7
1


0
Golden-crowned Kinglet
5
1

2
1
1
4


Eastern Bluebird





4
5


Townsend's Solitaire






1


American Robin
1
14

1746
39
561
261
118
14
Brown Thrasher








1
European Starling
14
48
130
1339
286
445
6559
689
47
Cedar Waxwing



174
52
153
70
157
84
Lapland Longspur

1
1200
46
133
32
30
50
20
Snow Bunting



5
1
55



Yellow-rumped Warbler



3

0

1

American Tree Sparrow
106
230
220
67
52
141
456
413
11
Song Sparrow



2
3

1
1

Harris's Sparrow

4
14


5
1
1

White-crowned Sparrow




2




Dark-eyed Junco



278
96
136
83
172
50
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

1
4




8

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
62
17
43




36
14
Northern Cardinal
2
1
4
14
29
26
27
21
6
Red-winged Blackbird



5720
597
410
1212
1230
285
Western Meadowlark



4

3
6


Rusty Blackbird





1



Common Grackle


13
3
1
2



Brown-headed Cowbird



1





House Finch

1

61
33
108
49
128
38
Purple Finch





7
1

0
White-winged Crossbill







1

Common Redpoll
14



45
7

97
4
Pine Siskin
42
11

0
16
22

24
12
American Goldfinch

7
6
29
57
197
292
132
18
House Sparrow
200
25
1000
360
292
749
687
809
73

Effort by Year

This table contains effort for all years.
Count Date
Count Year
Field People
Field Hours
Feeder People
Feeder Hours
Count Day Species
Count Week Species
Count Species Total
 Bird Total
12/23/1957
1957
2
9.00


25
0
25
    1,377
12/30/1966
1966
1
9.00


20
0
20
       463
12/31/1967
1967
1
9.00


20
0
20
    2,885
12/26/2013
2013
17
52.50
6
13.25
47
2
49
  10,639
12/26/2014
2014
9
42.75
11
34.25
49
0
49
    3,560
12/26/2015
2015
20
37.25
14
29
49
6
55
    4,737
12/26/2016
2016
17
48.00
15
32.75
45
0
45
  10,682
12/26/2017
2017
17
47.00
4
13
42
2
44
    5,552
12/26/2018
2018
9
10.25
5
21
32
6
38
    1,121

Thanks to everyone who helped with the count and if you know anyone who would like to help with the count next year, send me their contact information so they can be included in all communications.

Jeff Hansen
CBC Compiler
jeff.hansen.sd@gmail.com
785.806.6917

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