Each year, we joke about how this year, surely the weather on Christmas Bird Count will be 25 degrees, no wind, nice covering of snow, and partly cloudy. For the middle of December, that’s not too much to ask is it? In Madison, WI, the Christmas Bird Count rarely does feature such idyllic winter weather, but on December 18, 2021 it was close to it!
Volunteers meet at Cherokee Marsh to document which birds they find. Photo by Paul Noeldner
The Christmas Bird Count is fun and important, regardless of temperature and degree of cloudiness. This nation-wide annual event that involves volunteers searching all over the country to count and tally birds all within the same two week span around the end of December. Each geographic area is designated as a “Circle”, and the count for that circle is done on just one day. In Madison, it is made possible by some highly dedicated birders who don’t mind spending an entire day tromping around outside searching for our feathered friends.
The important data that these hardy volunteers collect is submitted to National Audubon, which shares collated data broadly. It’s the longest standing citizen science program in the country, offering a snapshot in time of which birds are present, absent, abundant, average, or scarce. The Madison-area count is coordinated by Madison Audubon, in partnership with over 150 volunteers.
A Caroline Wren visits a volunteer’s feeder during CBC! Photo by Jeff Galligan
The results from this year include a lot of typical species we see in mid-December, as well as a couple of pleasant surprises and a couple of eye-brow raisers. Below is the list for the birds seen and effort data from the 2021 Madison-area Christmas Bird Count.
THANK YOU! to all of the volunteers, especially the area captains who put in so much effort to make this possible!
Written by Brenna Marsicek, Madison Audubon’s director of communications and outreach, Madison-area CBC compiler
Madison-area Christmas Bird Count Results
December 18, 2021
Total species count: 95 (record is 97 in 2017 and 2020)
Total number of birds seen: 51,603
Number of volunteers: 156
Number of combined hours of effort: 343.5
Number of miles covered: 692 (266 of them on foot!)
Species observed and numbers of each:
Cackling Goose - 37
Canada Goose - 13,906
Trumpeter Swa - 4
Tundra Swan - 3,792
Wood Duck - 2
Gadwall - 106
American Wigeon - 3
American Black Duck - 11
Mallard - 4,206
Northern Shoveler - 33
Northern Pintail - 2
Green-winged Teal - 11
Canvasback - 448
Redhead - 42
Ring-necked Duck - 50
Greater Scaup - 4
Lesser Scaup - 62
Long-tailed Duck - 1
Bufflehead - 1,009
Common Goldeneye - 1,681
Hooded Merganser - 12
Common Merganser - 483
Red-breasted Merganser - 11
Ruddy Duck - 12
Ring-necked Pheasant - 2
Wild Turkey - 275
Pied-billed Grebe - 1
Horned Grebe - 1
Red-necked Grebe - 1
Great Blue Heron - 2
Northern Harrier - 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Cooper’s Hawk - 22
Bald Eagle - 51
Red-tailed Hawk - 130
Rough-legged Hawk - 1
American Coot - 195
Sandhill Crane - 741
Gull spp. (unidentified) - 61
Ring-billed Gull - 1,417
Herring Gull - 2,408
Iceland Gull - 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 4
Rock Pigeon - 467
Mourning Dove - 710
Eastern Screech Owl - 15
Great Horned Owl - 22
Barred Owl - 4
Northern Saw-whet Owl - 2
Belted Kingfisher - 9
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 286
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 435
Hairy Woodpecker - 150
Northern Flicker - 18
Pileated Woodpecker - 7
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Northern Shrike - 4
Blue Jay - 298
American Crow - 1,108
Horned Lark - 4
Black-capped Chickadee - 1,636
Tufted Titmouse - 64
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 75
White-breasted Nuthatch - 464
Brown Creeper - 85
Winter Wren - 9
Carolina Wren - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 25
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Hermit Thrush - 2
American Robin - 158
European Starling - 4,440
Cedar Waxwing - 413
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
American Tree Sparrow - 294
Fox Sparrow - 7
Dark-eyed Junco - 1,420
White-crowned Sparrow - 6
White-throated Sparrow - 16
Song Sparrow - 19
Swamp Sparrow - 5
Northern Cardinal - 803
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
Rusty Blackbird - 16
Common Grackle - 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
House Finch - 957
Purple Finch - 2
Red Crossbill - 2
Common Redpoll - 2
Pine Siskin - 5
American Goldfinch - 1,186
House Sparrow - 3,688
