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January 5, 2014

Christmas Bird Count Results 2013

The 40th Algonquin Park Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on Saturday, January 4, 2014. Conditions for observing were fairly good, although a south wind of 20 kp/h (with occasional gusts to 30 kp/h) until early afternoon caused problems hearing birds such as woodpeckers. The temperature ranged from minus 14 to minus 4ºC. It was sunny in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, with no precipitation. There was almost no open water. The snow was knee-deep but walking trails and the many places where people had snowshoed were well packed down.

Overall Results

Total Observers: 84
Total Species: 24 (average is 28)
Total Individuals: 2,557 (average is 4,785)
Birds per Party Hour: 11 (low of 4 birds/party hour has occurred in two previous years)
New Species for the Count: none

Noteworthy Species

Wild Turkey: 9 (new high count)
Northern Saw-whet Owl: count week; one roosting (photos) was found as it was being mobbed by birds on January 2 along the border of Visitor Centre parking lot.

Finches: lower numbers than on any previous count with as many cones.

Purple Finch: 321
Red Crossbill: 35
White-winged Crossbill: 12 (including some singing males)
American Goldfinch: 201
Evening Grosbeak: 73 (including 62 at the Visitor Centre feeders)

Species Observed on the 2013 Algonquin Park CBC

Species listed represent all species observed on the Algonquin Park Christmas Bird Count since 1974. * represents Count Week bird observations, but not the day of the Count.

Great Blue Heron 0
American Black Duck 0
Mallard 0
Ring-necked Duck 0
Hooded Merganser 0
Common Merganser 0
Bald Eagle 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk 0
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 0
Rough-legged Hawk 0
Golden Eagle 0
Wild Turkey 10 (new count high)
Ruffed Grouse 69
Spruce Grouse 1*
Herring Gull 0
Rock Pigeon 0
Great Horned Owl 0
Northern Hawk Owl 0
Barred Owl 1
Great Gray Owl 0
Northern Saw-whet Owl 1*
Belted Kingfisher 0
Downy Woodpecker 23
Hairy Woodpecker 27
American Three-toed Woodpecker 0
Black-backed Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 10
Northern Shrike 0
Gray Jay 25
Blue Jay 232
American Crow 0
Common Raven 121
Black-capped Chickadee 868
Boreal Chickadee 13
Red-breasted Nuthatch 413
White-breasted Nuthatch 10
Brown Creeper 18
Winter Wren 0
Golden-crowned Kinglet 50
American Robin 0
Brown Thrasher 0
Bohemian Waxwing 0
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 0
White-throated Sparrow 0
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Snow Bunting 0
Red-winged Blackbird 0
Rusty Blackbird 0
Common Grackle 0
Pine Grosbeak 0
Purple Finch 321
House Finch 0
Red Crossbill 35
White-winged Crossbill 12
Common Redpoll 0
Hoary Redpoll 0
Pine Siskin 0
American Goldfinch 201
Evening Grosbeak 73
House Sparrow 0

Eagle sp. 0
Hawk sp. 1
Owl sp. 0
Woodpecker sp. 1
Nuthatch sp. 0
Crossbill sp. 0
Finch sp. 28

Total Number of Species 24
Total Number of Individuals 2,569 (updated)

Number of Observers 84

Number of Hours - Driving 11.2
Number of Hours - Walking 220.8
Number of Hours - Owling 0.0
Total Party Hours 232.0

# of Kilometres - Driving 376.0
# of Kilometres - Walking 274.8
# of Kilometres - Owling 0.0
Total Distance (km) 650.8
Birds Per Party Hour 11.0

Notable Missed Species

Spruce Grouse (count week; female at Spruce Bog Boardwalk on January 2)

A big thanks to all those who participated in the count.

Ron Tozer
Algonquin Park CBC Compiler

What is the Christmas Bird Count?

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere, go out over a 24 hour period to count birds.

How is the Christmas Bird Count conducted?

Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 24-km diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear all day. It’s not just a species tally—all birds are counted all day, giving an indication of the total number of birds in the circle that day. If observers live within a CBC circle, they may arrange in advance to count the birds at their feeders and submit those data to their compiler. All individual CBC’s are conducted in the period from December 14 to January 5 (inclusive dates) each season, and each count is conducted in one calendar day.

Why was the Christmas Bird Count started?

The first CBC was done on Christmas Day of 1900 as an alternative activity to an event called the “side hunt” where people chose sides, then went out and shot as many birds as they could. The group that came in with the largest number of dead birds won the event. Frank Chapman, a famed ornithologist at the American Museum of Natural History and the editor of Bird-Lore (which became the publication of the National Association of Audubon Societies when that organization formed in 1905) recognized that declining bird populations could not withstand wanton over-hunting, and proposed to count birds on Christmas Day rather than shoot them.

Is the Christmas Bird Count useful?

Absolutely. The data collected by observers over the past century allow researchers, conservation biologists, and interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America.