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
