Toronto Ornithological Club
Christmas Bird Count
2009 CBC
This year’s Toronto Christmas Bird Count will take place on Sunday, December 20th. If you are interested in taking part, please email us .
2007 Summary
Below is a report for the 83rd annual Toronto Christmas Bird Count.
| Highlights |
|
Ovenbird - 1 (second record in count history)
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 (third record in count history)
Cackling Goose - 1 (second record in count history)
Chipping Sparrow - 1 (seventh record in count history)
Wilson's Snipe - 1 (seventh record in count history)
Hybrid Barrow's x Common Goldeneye - 1 (new record for the count)
|
| Top 10 Species |
| European Starling (1) | 21523 |
| Long-tailed Duck (3) | 7180 |
| Ring-billed Gull (4) | 5668 |
| Rock Pigeon (6) | 3358 |
| Canada Goose (9) | 2913 |
| House Sparrow (7) | 2834 |
| Mallard (5) | 1888 |
| American Goldfinch (12) | 1198 |
| Greater Scaup (2) | 1033 |
| Black-capped Chickadee (10) | 973 |
| (Number in parantheses indicates rank in 2005 count.) | |
|
|
| Record Highs |
|
Great Blue Heron - 17 (17 also in 1996)
Blk-cr. Night Heron - 20 (12 in 1998)
Horned Grebe - 3 (also 3 in 1975)
Red-necked Grebe - 4 (2 in 1997 and 2003)
Northern Shoveler - 94 (51 in 1994)
Northern Pintail - 14 (8 in 1953)
Red-breasted Merganser - 309 (179 in 1993)
Cooper's Hawk - 16 (13 in 2005)
Peregrine Falcon - 10 (also 10 in 2005)
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 (ties 3 previous years)
Downy Woodpecker - 232 (222 in 2005)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 70 (63 in 2003)
Northern Mockingbird - 34 (30 in 2005)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4 (3 in 1959)
Northern Cardinal - 478 (398 in 2005)
American Goldfinch - 1198 (1032 in 1963)
House Sparrow - 2834 (2618 in 2005)
|
|
| Unusual Lows |
|
Greater Scaup - 1033 (fewest since 1997)
Redhead - 340 (fewest since 1996)
Great Black-backed Gull - 7 (fewest since 1970)
Great Horned Owl - 1 (fewest since 1971)
American Crow - 72 (similar to last year, but still under 10% of the 10-year average 1992-2001)
|
| Count Week Species |
|
Seen during the three days before and/or after count day (Dec. 14-20)
Green-winged Teal
Northern Goshawk
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Fox Sparrow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
|
|
|
Comments
It was an incredibly mild day for the count - certainly among the warmest ever, if not an absolute record. Pleasant as it was in
comparison to the very cold counts in some recent years, it did feel odd to be doing a Christmas Bird Count while countless people were
out barbecuing, and even wearing shorts and t-shirts! It seemed that the level of human activity in the parks made it more difficult than
usual to find birds, but on the whole the total numbers of species and individuals for the day were high anyway. However, the number of
individuals was high largely due to a big jump this year in the abundance of European Starlings, up over 12,000 individuals from 2005, which
more than accounts for the overall rise in total numbers.
The 17 species tying or exceeding old record highs were an unusually large number.
In addition, there were three other species that didn't set all time records, but were at their highest numbers in a long time - 76 Hairy
Woodpeckers were the most since 1965, 62 Song Sparrows the most since 1989, and 767 Dark-eyed Juncos also the most since 1989, and the second
highest total ever.
Thank you to the 95+ participants who contributed to this year's count!
