We had a very successful Christmas Bird Count in Calgary on Sunday December 20th. The weather was mild with virtually no snow on the ground, although it was a little windy. Despite Covid precautions, the field routes were all covered, and we had a record number of Feeder Watchers counting birds in their yards (thanks largely to the efforts of Matthew Wallace).

Preliminary results, provided by compiler Phil Cram, show that there were 70 species counted, which is one of the higher totals we’ve had in the 69 years of the count. Most significantly, there were three new species never before seen on the CBC: Anna’s Hummingbird, Swainson’s Thrush and Mountain Bluebird, bringing our cumulative species count to 142.

Here are the results with the total number of each species seen:

Results-ALL-preliminary

Besides the three new species, there were other notable results:

Unusual Species: Green-winged Teal and Evening Grosbeak.

Record High Counts: Northern Flicker (328) and Black-billed Magpie (3063) – probably due to increased coverage.

Also High Count: White-throated Sparrow (10).

Low Counts: Gray Partridge, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Bohemian Waxwing, Common Redpoll, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill and Pine Siskin (see sheet for numbers).

Noteworthy Missed Species: American Wigeon, Ruffed Grouse, Killdeer, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Snow Bunting and American Tree Sparrow.

Count-week (not seen on count day, but in the period three days prior or three days after): Snow Goose and Hoary Redpoll.

It seems that during the pandemic there has been a really big increase in the number of people taking up birding, and many more people are watching birds in their yards. We had 154 observers in 128 households counting birds. Feeder Watchers counted 35 species, including the only Northern Saw-whet Owl, the only Anna’s Hummingbird, and the only Purple Finch seen.

Feeder-Watcher Results:

Canada Goose	658
Mallard	193
Rock Pigeon	96
Sharp-shinned Hawk	3
Downy Woodpecker	81
Hairy Woodpecker	6
Northern Flicker	113
Merlin	5
Blue Jay	58
Black-billed Magpie	471
Common Raven	38
Black-capped Chickadee	275
Red-breasted Nuthatch	147
White-breasted Nuthatch	18
European Starling	2
American Robin	4
Bohemian Waxwing	6
House Sparrow	1037
House Finch	400
Dark-eyed Junco	34
White-throated Sparrow	7
White-winged Crossbill	4
Pine Siskin	21
American Crow	20
Anna’s Hummingbird	1
Mountain Chickadee	2
Northern Saw-whet Owl	1
Bald Eagle	2
Purple Finch	1
Common Merganser	4
Great Horned Owl	1
Gray Partridge	10
Common Redpoll	3
Ring-necked Pheasant	7
Total Bird Species:	35
Total Bird Count:	3712
Total Observers:	154

Next post: Sign up to get involved in next year’s Christmas Bird Count, and other Citizen Science Projects.