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Bird Column for INTRODUCTION Here is a discussion of
the results of the October Feeder Survey. This includes all the material that
appeared in the Post Standard as well as additional details including the
species that were most often seen as well as a complete list of all the birds
observed. Sixty-seven
people from the Central New York area watched their feeders during the first
week of October and sent in a report listing
the largest number of each species that they saw at any one time
during the week. The survey is conducted the
first week of each winter month. With the help of hundreds of readers for 44
years, useful scientific information has been obtained. It has enabled me to
see that the cardinal increased gradually during this period. We have seen
the pheasant decline. Tree sparrows come down
from Canada for the winter in November. We found that their numbers increase
gradually and reach a peak in February. By early April one-half have returned
to Canada. Just a few are left for the May count and they soon leave. The evening grosbeak also
visits from the north, but it only comes every other winter. The red-breasted
nuthatch comes down every year, and its numbers are always high one year and
low the next. The count of tufted
titmice this October was the highest
ever recorded. In the early 20th
century it was found only in the Southern states. It started to move
northward and two of them were first reported at Bessie Bradt's feeder in
Manlius in 1959. By 1980 it was on 10% of the feeder reports. It reached 20%
by 1994 and now, 47% of the observers list it. These illustrations
show how your efforts on the feeder survey have provided valuable and
interesting information over the years. The November feeder survey
starts today and ends Saturday. Please watch whenever you can and keep a
record of the number of birds of each species that you see each time. At the end of the week, list the largest
number of each species that you saw at any one time during that week. I need more people to help
with this project. No list is too short.
If you live in upstate Sixty six fairly common species
were seen. In addition to these 66 fairly common birds, 22 others were each reported by only one
person. So the total of all reports was 88 species. As usual in October, the
Canada goose was the most abundant bird with 6,765 per 100 reports. Next came
the starling with 858. There were 479 house sparrows, 464 grackles and 465
mourning doves. After the mourning dove,
the other abundant birds were the goldfinch, blue jay, crow, chickadee, house finch and rock dove. In addition to the numbers,
we can ask how wide spread each species was. That is, what percentage of the
feeders attracted the bird? Almost everyone had blue
jays and chickadees. Eighty-seven percent had mourning doves and goldfinches.
Other species spotted by over half the observers were crow, white-breasted
nuthatch, downy woodpecker, cardinal, house finch and Canada goose. LOOKING AT LISTS Some people have long
lists and some have short lists. Every
list is important regardless of its length.
It tells us what birds are visiting your vicinity. It tells us what
the numbers are for the species you have.
When all of the lists are tabulated, you can see how many of the
species are visiting the average feeder. Sometimes an observer does
not send a list because there are not very many birds on it. All your lists are important. So let me
hear from you. By counting them and keeping a copy of the list, you can also
compare the way the numbers change at your feeder during the winter or from
one year to the next. The shortest list on the
October survey came from the combined observations of two third grade classes
at the New Haven Elementary School. In October, they saw 4 mourning doves, 1
blue jay and 5 goldfinches. The typical list this time
had 14 species on it. There were 4 on
the list from Debbie O'Connell of Camillus. Eight species were listed by
David Bigsby of Verona Beach, Alan Fitch of Marcellus, Elaine Lyon of
Cortland, Albert Neveu of Scriba, Linda Shuron of Solvay and Donald Windsor
of Norwich. The longest list was
turned in by Paul Radway who lives near Pompey. He tallied 43 as he did last
year. Bill Purcell of Hastings reported 41 species and so did Ken Zoller of
West Winfield. Linda Quackenbush of Waterloo had 39. THE TOTAL LIST OF SPECIES
REPORTED The first figure for each
species is the number of birds spotted on 100 reports and the one in
parentheses is the number of reports out of 100 that listed that species. If you divide the number of
birds by the number of reports, you get the average number of birds visiting
a feeder. Lets do it for the goldfinch. There were 446 seen by 86
people. 446 divided by 86 is 5.2. So that means the average person had about
5 of them in sight at once. How many
goldfinches did you have? Here is the entire list:
Great blue heron 5 (5); turkey vulture 54
(24). Ducks and geese: snow
goose 71 (1); Canada goose 6,765 (62); wood duck 5 (2); mallard 34 (6); common merganser 1
(1). Hawks: osprey 1 (1);
harrier 3 (3); sharp-shinned 10 (10); Coopers 4 (4); goshawk 1 (1); broad
winged 1 (1); red-tailed 11 (11);
kestrel 7 5). Pheasant 5 (4); ruffed
grouse 8 (4); turkey 65 (10); killdeer 2 (2). Gulls: ring-billed 211 (
9); herring 9 (2); rock dove 218 (20);
mourning dove 455 (87); screech owl 1 (1); horned owl 2 (1); barn owl 1 (1);
hummingbird 2 (2); kingfisher 3 (3). Woodpeckers: red-bellied
26 (21); sapsucker 2 (2); downy 122 (72); hairy 54 (41); flicker 57 (27);
pileated 3 (3); phoebe 13 ( 9); kingbird 1 (1); tree-swallow 22 (2). Blue jay 411 (93); crow
401 (84); chickadee 366 (95); titmouse 90 (47); red-breasted nuthatch 36
(26); white-breasted nuthatch 113 (75); Carolina wren 6 (5); house wren 5
(4); winter wren 1 (1). Golden-crowned kinglet 22
(6); ruby-crowned kinglet 6 (2); bluebird 8 (4); Swainsons thrush 2 (1); wood
thrush 1 (1); robin 164 (33); catbird 12 (10); mockingbird 6 (1); brown
thrasher 2 (2); starling 858 (26); cedar waxwing 93 (5); warbling vireo 1
(1). Warblers: blue-wing 1 (1);
Tennesee 2 (6); Nashville 3 (2);
black-throated blue 3 (2); yellow-rumped 26 (6); black-throated green
2 (2); palm 1 (1); mourning 1 (1); yellow throat 3 (2); rose-breasted
grosbeak 2 (2); scarlet tanager 1 (1); towhee 7 (5). Sparrows: tree sparrow 3
(2); chipping 78 (24); field 9 (3); savannah 3 (2); song 69 (32); swamp 1
(1); white-throated 191 (35); white-crowned 120 (29); junco 147 (47);
cardinal 203 (69); rose-breasted grosbeak 2 (2). Red-winged blackbird 114
(10); grackle 464 (18); cowbird 10
(4). Purple finch 13 (7); house
finch 275 (56); goldfinch 446 (86); house sparrow 479 (36). ==============
=========== ================== CAPTION:
Nearly half of the feeder watchers listed the tufted titmouse in the October
feeder survey. This broke a 44 year record. Watch for a gray, chickadee-like
bird. It has a tuft on the head and rusty flanks as shown here in Roger Tory
Peterson's painting from the "Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern
and Central North America," fifth Edition (courtesy of the Houghten
Mifflin Company). Soon this photograph will be put in the Images page on this
site. To get in touch with Benjamin P. BurttVia Mail: Write to B.Burtt, Stars Magazine, P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse,, NY 13221. Via E-mail: Send to
features@syracuse.com. Be
sure to put “For B.Burtt” in the subject line. |