Christmas Bird Count 2008

Christmas Bird Count

109th CBC

Frank Chapman's proposal for the first "Christmas Bird Census" appeared in the December 1900 issue of Bird-Lore. On December 25, 1900, 27 birdwatchers heeded Chapman's suggestion, and their results were published in the February 1901 issue. Participation in the Christmas Bird Count has grown to over 1,800 separate counts, involving more than 50,000 observers.

The Christmas Bird Count at Washita is used to track winter bird populations. The count was initiated in 1971 and has been completed all but two years (1987 & 1990) since then.

The 109th CBC was conducted on December 19, 2008, and compiled by Brian Lockwood. Fourteen observers participated in the 2008 Washita CBC. The weather conditions were as follows: temperature 33-50 degrees F, winds variable at 5-10 mph.

Species	Total	Species	Total
Common Loon	2	Downy Woodpecker	30
Pied-billed Grebe	19	Hairy Woodpecker	6
Horned Grebe	24	Northern Flicker-red shafted	18
Double-crested Cormorant	138	Northern Flicker-yellow shafted	27
Great Blue Heron	19	Flicker sp.	3
Greater White-fronted Goose	24	Eastern Phoebe	5
Snow Goose	5,321	Loggerhead Shrike	23
Ross's Goose	1,968	Blue Jay	4
Canada Goose	46,841	American Crow	64
Wood Duck	2	Horned Lark	20
Gadwall	37	Carolina Chickadee	61
American Wigeon	622	Tufted Titmouse	8
Mallard	222	Carolina Wren	15
Blue-winged Teal	8	Bewick's Wren	6
Northern Shoveler	46	Winter Wren	6
Northern Pintail	17	Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Green-winged Teal	11	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	10
Canvasback	23	Eastern Bluebird	118
Redhead	27	Mountain Bluebird	55
Ring-necked Duck	52	American Robin	298
Greater Scaup	1	Northern Mockingbird	16
Lesser Scaup	6	Brown Thrasher	2
Bufflehead	79	European Starling	1,513
Common Goldeneye	10	Cedar Waxwing	25
Hooded Merganser	44	Yellow-rumped Warbler	41
Common Merganser	67	Spotted Towhee	8
Red-breasted Merganser	16	American Tree Sparrow	52
Bald Eagle	14	Chipping Sparrow	3
Northern Harrier	52	Field Sparrow	34
Sharp-shinned Hawk	3	Savannah Sparrow	35
Cooper's Hawk	3	Fox Sparrow	5
Red-shouldered Hawk	1	Song Sparrow	95
Red-tailed Hawk	108	Lincoln's Sparrow	3
Harlan's Hawk	4	Harris's Sparrow	113
Ferruginous Hawk	6	White-crowned Sparrow	408
Rough-legged Hawk	3	Sparrow sp.	4
American Kestrel	39	Dark-eyed Junco	333
Peregrine Falcon	1	Northern Cardinal	166
Prairie Falcon	2	Red-winged Blackbird	496
Wild Turkey	60	Eastern Meadowlark	2
Northern Bobwhite	60	Western Meadowlark	12
American Coot	1,142	Meadowlark sp.	502
Sandhill Crane	166	Brewer's Blackbird	861
Killdeer	1	Common Grackle	13
Bonaparte's Gull	22	Great-tailed Grackle	3
Ring-billed Gull	203	Brown-headed Cowbird	328
Rock Pigeon	14	Blackbird sp.	5,670
Eurasian Collared-Dove	26	Purple Finch	5
Mourning Dove	249	House Finch	25
Greater Roadrunner	1	Pine Siskin	5
Great Horned Owl	1	American Goldfinch	261
Barred Owl	2	House Sparrow	142
Belted Kingfisher	8
Red-bellied Woodpecker	42	Total Species	100

Northern Shoveler Drake. Photo Credit: Amber Zimmerman/USFWS.
Northern Shoveler Drake.
Photo Credit: Amber Zimmerman/USFWS.

Last updated: August 5, 2009

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