Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Mitchell SD 2020 Christmas Bird Count Results

 

Mitchell CBC Results Report 2020

Hairy Woodpecker

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 roughly 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

This year’s count took place on Saturday, December 26, 2020 and was the eighth consecutive year to hold the count since reinstatement.

On the day of the count the skies were partly clear. Day time temperatures started at 12° F and rose to 34° F. The maximum wind speed was 16 mph out of the southeast. There was no open water moving or still.

A total of 25 people participated although many were small children. We had 7 groups of people who birded in the field and 7 groups that watched their feeders. Field groups spent 36.75 hours in the field observing birds.  In comparison feeder watchers spent 22.75 hours watching birds at their feeders.

We had a total of 14,733 birds composed of 49 species for the count day. There were an additional 2 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 10,122.

We added three new species to the count.  A spotted towhee was seen on count day and Carolina wren and red crossbill were seen for count week.  Some misses included mallard, merlin, lapland longspur, and snow bunting. The three rare species seen were prairie falcon, spotted towhee, and Carolina wren.

Of note were the following birds seen but not in the count circle or not within count week.  A snowy owl was seen before count week and a short eared owl was seen after count week.  Blue herons, prairie chickens and a merlin were seen outside of the count circle.

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

Counts for the Year

The following table contains counts for the Mitchell CBC. CW designates count week birds.

Species

Total

Snow Goose

7

Canada Goose

4

Ring-necked Pheasant

97

Wild Turkey

111

Rock Pigeon

545

Eurasian Collared-dove

85

Sharp-shinned Hawk

3

Cooper's Hawk

4

Northern Goshawk

1

Bald Eagle

3

Red-tailed Hawk

26

Rough-legged Hawk

18

Eastern Screech-owl

2

Great Horned Owl

10

Red-bellied Woodpecker

9

Downy Woodpecker

15

Hairy Woodpecker

10

Northern Flicker

6

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)

2

American Kestrel

4

Prairie Falcon

1

Northern Shrike

6

Blue Jay

70

American Crow

17

Black-capped Chickadee

40

Horned Lark

220

Golden-crowned Kinglet

1

Red-breasted Nuthatch

10

White-breasted Nuthatch

19

Brown Creeper

1

Carolina Wren

CW

European Starling

1188

American Robin

204

Cedar Waxwing

76

House Sparrow

277

House Finch

115

Purple Finch

4

Common Redpoll

2

Red Crossbill

CW

Pine Siskin

53

American Goldfinch

163

American Tree Sparrow

433

Dark-eyed Junco

100

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

54

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

1

White-crowned Sparrow

1

Harris's Sparrow

11

Song Sparrow

4

Spotted Towhee

1

Western Meadowlark

9

Red-winged Blackbird

10122

Brown-headed Cowbird

13

Common Grackle

20

blackbird sp.

506

Northern Cardinal

29

 

Participants for the Year

The Mitchell CBC wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all of these volunteers.

Full Name

Field

Feeder

Mavis Anderson

Field

Feeder

Mike Blaalid

Field

 

Hazel Blaalid

Field

 

Libby Olson

Field

 

Oliver Blaalid

Field

 

Thea Blaalid

Field

 

Jeanne Blaalid

Field

 

Nancy Drilling

Field

 

Doug Hansen

Field

 

Leah Murray

Field

 

Mike Murray

Field

 

Olivia Murray

Field

 

Wade Murray

Field

 

Emily Anderson

Field

 

Jasper Anderson

Field

 

Jeff Hansen

Field

Feeder

Rick Hansen

Field

Feeder

Andrea Meyer

Field

Feeder

Scott Meyer

Field

Feeder

Letha Rowley

 

Feeder

Barry Parkin

Field

 

Barb Stolz

 

Feeder

Scott Stolz

Field

 

Tammy Wheeler

 

Feeder

Lonnie Wiese

 

Feeder

 

Counts by Year

This table contains counts by year for the last 10 years of the Mitchell CBC. Note, zero denotes count week species.

Species

1966

1967

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Snow Goose

 

 

 

 

0

 

0

 

 

7

Canada Goose

 

 

0

50

0

24

0

 

 

4

Wood Duck

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

Gadwall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

Mallard

 

43

 

225

2

 

 

 

40

 

Redhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Lesser Scaup

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

Ruddy Duck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

Ring-necked Pheasant

37

3

194

137

366

141

221

34

146

97

Greater Prairie-chicken

 

 

10

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

Wild Turkey

 

 

104

294

88

162

30

168

215

111

Rock Pigeon

 

 

112

495

435

131

631

55

323

545

Eurasian Collared-dove

 

 

68

95

54

179

37

35

45

85

Mourning Dove

 

 

9

1

0

2

 

0

 

 

Northern Harrier

 

 

1

 

 

1

 

0

 

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

 

5

2

3

2

2

 

2

3

Cooper's Hawk

 

 

2

1

3

2

2

1

1

4

Northern Goshawk

 

 

3

 

1

 

 

 

2

1

Bald Eagle

 

 

8

3

6

6

8

1

9

3

Red-tailed Hawk

 

 

15

24

19

28

21

0

31

26

Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's)

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

0

 

 

Rough-legged Hawk

 

1

16

3

2

20

11

1

6

18

buteo sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

1

 

 

Eastern Screech-owl

 

 

4

1

 

1

2

 

6

2

Great Horned Owl

 

3

4

10

2

5

7

0

14

10

Snowy Owl

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barred Owl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Long-eared Owl

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short-eared Owl

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern Saw-whet Owl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Belted Kingfisher

 

 

 

1

0

 

 

 

1

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

 

 

5

9

9

8

5

4

13

9

Downy Woodpecker

11

2

19

30

32

27

18

9

34

15

Hairy Woodpecker

 

 

5

17

16

13

11

5

12

10

Northern Flicker

 

 

21

8

20

27

6

9

12

6

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)

 

1

 

 

 

 

6

5

 

2

American Kestrel

 

 

3

1

2

6

3

 

4

4

Merlin

 

 

2

 

 

2

1

 

3

 

Prairie Falcon

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

1

falcon sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

1

 

Northern Shrike

2

 

8

3

2

1

1

 

3

6

Blue Jay

 

1

59

37

46

73

37

20

73

70

American Crow

12

90

12

54

57

15

10

17

32

17

Common Raven

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black-capped Chickadee

11

6

32

39

34

24

15

11

53

40

Tufted Titmouse

 

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

 

 

Horned Lark

27

100

43

255

444

4

368

60

70

220

Golden-crowned Kinglet

1

 

2

1

1

4

 

 

3

1

Red-breasted Nuthatch

 

 

3

3

3

12

1

2

2

10

White-breasted Nuthatch

 

1

10

17

20

20

6

5

22

19

Brown Creeper

1

 

8

7

1

 

 

0

2

1

Carolina Wren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

European Starling

48

130

1339

286

445

6559

689

47

832

1188

Brown Thrasher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

Eastern Bluebird

 

 

 

 

4

5

 

 

0

 

Townsend's Solitaire

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

5

 

American Robin

14

 

1746

39

561

261

118

14

6

204

Cedar Waxwing

 

 

174

52

153

70

157

84

140

76

House Sparrow

25

1000

360

292

749

687

809

73

336

277

House Finch

1

 

61

33

108

49

128

38

27

115

Purple Finch

 

 

 

 

7

1

 

0

0

4

Common Redpoll

 

 

 

45

7

 

97

4

 

2

Red Crossbill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

White-winged Crossbill

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

Pine Siskin

11

 

0

16

22

 

24

12

17

53

American Goldfinch

7

6

29

57

197

292

132

18

139

163

Lapland Longspur

1

1200

46

133

32

30

50

20

 

 

Snow Bunting

 

 

5

1

55

 

 

 

8

 

American Tree Sparrow

230

220

67

52

141

456

413

11

49

433

Dark-eyed Junco

 

 

278

96

136

83

172

50

123

100

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

17

43

 

 

 

 

36

14

28

54

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

1

4

 

 

 

 

8

 

4

1

White-crowned Sparrow

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

1

Harris's Sparrow

4

14

 

 

5

1

1

 

6

11

Song Sparrow

 

 

2

3

 

1

1

 

 

4

Spotted Towhee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Western Meadowlark

 

 

4

 

3

6

 

 

 

9

Red-winged Blackbird

 

 

5720

597

410

1212

1230

285

106

10122

Brown-headed Cowbird

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

2

13

Rusty Blackbird

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

19

 

Common Grackle

 

13

3

1

2

 

 

 

 

20

blackbird sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

506

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

 

3

 

0

 

1

 

 

 

Northern Cardinal

1

4

14

29

26

27

21

6

23

29

 

Effort by Year

This table contains effort for all years of the Mitchell CBC.

Count Date

Count Year

Field People

Field Hours All

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

1377

12/30/1966

1966

1

9.00

 

 

20

0

20

463

12/31/1967

1967

1

9.00

 

 

20

0

20

2885

12/26/2013

2013

17

52.50

6

13.25

47

2

49

10639

12/26/2014

2014

9

42.75

11

34.25

49

0

49

3560

12/26/2015

2015

20

37.25

14

29.00

49

6

55

4737

12/26/2016

2016

17

48.00

15

32.75

45

0

45

10682

12/26/2017

2017

17

47.00

4

13.00

42

2

44

5552

12/26/2018

2018

9

10.25

5

21.00

32

6

38

1121

12/21/2019

2019

13

47.50

17

29.00

51

2

53

3058

12/26/2020

2020

19

34.00

9

22.75

50

2

52

14733

I’d like to give a big “Thank You” to everyone who helped with the count. We wouldn’t have had such a thorough tally of birds seen in the count circle if it wasn’t for the effort of all of those involved.

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

No comments:

Post a Comment