The 120th Annual New Haven Christmas Bird Count Summary
On December 14th, 2019, 73 members and friends of the New Haven Bird Club set out to record all of the birds within the boundary of the New Haven Christmas Count circle. The birders had to contend with a persistent light rain and intermittent fog. Finding birds was a challenge, but we birders are a hardy and determined lot and, collectively, we found lots of interesting and unusual species and performed the annual census thoroughly and well. We found a total of 124 species in the count circle on count day and added five more during the count week period. As always, our survey reveals trends in populations of the birds in our area in early winter. Unfortunately, there are more species that are in decline compared to species that are increasing in abundance. Species that are in decline include: Mute Swan, American Black Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Eastern Screech Owl, Monk Parakeet, American Crow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Field Sparrow, and Rusty Blackbird. Remarkably, we didn’t record a single Monk Parakeet on this year’s Christmas Count. About 20 years ago, our count had the distinction of recording more Monk Parakeets than any other count in the United States. The causes for this introduced species’ decline in our area are not known completely. Species that are increasing in abundance in our area include: Black Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, and White-throated Sparrow. Notably, this year we recorded more Red-bellied Woodpeckers than Downy Woodpeckers for the first time in the history of the count. Sincere thanks are extended to all of the participants. Going out in the rain was a real show of dedication and perseverance. Hopefully, we’ll have better weather for the 2020 New Haven Christmas Count. It will be held on Saturday, December 19th. Mark your calendars!
The final results were (with rare birds in boldface): Greater White-fronted Goose, 1; Snow Goose, 1; Brant, 435; Canada Goose, 3136; Mute Swan, 41; Wood Duck, 47; Gadwall, 112; American Wigeon, 29; American Black Duck, 365; Mallard, 771; Northern Pintail, 1; Green-winged Teal, 20; Ring-necked Duck, 81; Greater Scaup, 1140; Lesser Scaup, 33; Common Eider, 1; Surf Scoter, 8; White-winged Scoter, 4; Black Scoter, 1; Long-tailed Duck, 115; Bufflehead, 231; Common Goldeneye, 114; Hooded Merganser, 220; Common Merganser, 22; Red-breasted Merganser, 118; Ruddy Duck, 1; Wild Turkey, 123; Red-throated Loon, 24; Common Loon, 35; Pied-billed Grebe, 1; Horned Grebe, 16; Great Blue Heron, 34; Black-crowned Night-heron, 1; Black Vulture, CW; Turkey Vulture, 8; Northern Harrier, 6; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 5; Cooper’s Hawk, 16; Bald Eagle, 5; Red-shouldered Hawk, 9; Red-tailed Hawk, 38; Clapper Rail, 3; Virginia Rail, 1; American Coot, 1; Killdeer, CW; American Oystercatcher, 1; Greater Yellowlegs, 1; Ruddy Turnstone, 3; Sanderling, 85; Dunlin, 16; Purple Sandpiper, 6; American Woodcock, 2; Ring-billed Gull, 1415; Herring Gull, 1438; Iceland Gull, 3; Great Black-backed Gull, 53; Rock Pigeon, 461; Mourning Dove, 567; Eastern Screech Owl, 2; Great Horned Owl, 2; Barred Owl, 3; Belted Kingfisher, 19; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 131; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 7; Downy Woodpecker, 116; Hairy Woodpecker, 22; Northern Flicker, 59; Pileated Woodpecker, 2; Eastern Phoebe, 2; Blue-headed Vireo, 1; Merlin, 2; Peregrine Falcon, CW; Blue Jay, 553; American Crow, 648; Fish Crow, 283; crow, sp., 33; Common Raven, 12; Horned Lark, 48; Black-capped Chickadee, 153; Tufted Titmouse, 208; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2; White-breasted Nuthatch, 73; Brown Creeper, 3; Winter Wren, 7; Marsh Wren, 3; Carolina Wren, 156; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 5; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 9; Eastern Bluebird, 26; Hermit Thrush, 3; American Robin, 304; Gray Catbird, 11; Northern Mockingbird, 89; Brown Thrasher, 3; European Starling, 5007; Cedar Waxwing, 80; Orange-crowned, Warbler, 1; Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1; Pine Warbler, 3; Palm Warbler, 1; Common Yellowthroat, 1; Yellow-breasted Chat, 1; American Tree Sparrow, 75; Chipping Sparrow, 10; Field Sparrow, 17; Fox Sparrow, 9; Dark-eyed Junco, 581; White-throated Sparrow, 1044; White-crowned Sparrow, 3; Savannah Sparrow, 41; Song Sparrow, 564; Swamp Sparrow, 59; Eastern Towhee, 9; Lapland Longspur, 3; Northern Cardinal, 252; Red-winged Blackbird, 219; Eastern Meadowlark, 1; Rusty Blackbird, 23; Common Grackle, 657; Brown-headed Cowbird, 56; Baltimore Oriole, CW; House Finch, 156; Purple Finch, 2; Pine Siskin, CW; American Goldfinch, 162; House Sparrow, 656. Total Individuals: 24,120. Total Species: 124 + five count week species.
The participants were (with area captains in boldface): Marian Aimesbury, Dewitt Allen, Ralph Amodei, Christin Arnini, Mark Aronson, Dan Barvir, Bill Batsford, Larry Bausher, James Broatch, Stephen Broker, Lauren Brown, Michael Carpenter, Nancy Clark, Louisa Cunningham, John Farley, Michael Ferrari, Bobbie Fisher, Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, James Froenza, Frank Gallo, Ed Haesche, Stacy Hanks, Eli Holton, Michael and Pat Horn, Gladys Horowitz, Christine Howe, James Hunter, Nord Isaacson, Lynn Jones, Tom Kelly, Acadia Kocher, Bernice Lattanzi, Pat Leahy, Carol and Gary Lemmon, Cody Limber, Alex Lin-Moore, Donna Lorello, Chris Loscalzo, Alan Malina, Frank Mantlik, Gail Martino, Steve Mayo, Flo McBride, Linda Meyer, Judy Moore, Gina Nichol, John Oshlick, Bev Propen, Frank and Nancy Ragusa, Daryl Rathburn, Brendan Reilly, Craig Repasz, Laurie Reynolds, Jason Rieger, Nancy Rosenbaum, Lee Schlesinger, Abby Sesselberg, James Sirch, Paul Smith, Nancy Specht, Charla and Steve Spector, Howie Sternberg, Maria Stockmal, John Triana, Severin Uebbing, Marianne Vahey, Lisa Wahle, Chris Woerner, Paul Wolter, and George Zepko.
Thanks to all of the participants!
Chris Loscalzo,
NH CBC Compiler