Friday, June 10, 2011

Bird survey

The following is the report from this year's bird survey:

For two decades, volunteers have participated in the Stinchfield Woods Breeding Birds Survey by counting birds heard and seen on a weekend morning in early June. The count typically yields species from Michigan's north such as Pine, Blackburnian, and Black-throated Green Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos, and Red-breasted Nuthatches and Ohio's south such as Acadian flycatchers and Hooded warblers.

Year 2011's count took place on a warm, sunny Saturday, June 4, 2011, from 7 to 11:15 am. Special thanks go to our band of 10 volunteer counters. The 703 total individuals was the second-lowest in 14 years -- well below the 14-year average of 751.3 individual birds. In terms of number of species, birders counted 54 species, also lower than the 14-year average of 56.9.
Only two species were at an all-time high: Red-winged blackbirds at 15 and PILEATED WOODPECKERS at 3. On the north central side of the woods, one group saw 2 adult PILEATED including 1 singing on and on and on; on the far east side, a second group heard one PILEATED singing at length. There were good numbers of HOODED WARBLERS at 13. A few of us lingered afterwards and saw the Hooded warbler on the main road heading southbound up the hill from Stinchfield Woods Road. Earlier in the morning, this same Hooded and a far-away Hooded alternated songs. Very cool! At the radio tower, a group heard a female chipping while two males chased each other. Double cool!
Conspicuously absent were Hairy woodpeckers, House wrens, and Yellow warblers. At all-time low numbers were Indigo buntings at 8 -- half as many as the previous all-time low of 16 and Towhees at 3.
Highest numbers were Chickadees at 59, Eastern wood-pewees at 52, and Chipping sparrows at 43. This year marks the 5th in 14 years in which Chickadees outnumbered all other species.
Some folks speculated that doing the count so early in the June might yield migrating flycatchers and warblers. This did not happen.

Please mark your calendars now for next year's Stinchfield count on Sun., June 3, 2012, 7 to 11:15 am. Thanks again to the ten birders who took part in this year's count.

Consult the table below for species heard and seen from 1998 to 2011 (asterisk indicating highest number of species in the year). The table will grow in the years to come. Over the last 14 years, the count has averaged 56.9 species and 751.3 individuals. An issue of Michigan Birding and Natural History gives a five-year summary and interpretation of the count before this time period by two longtime volunteers, J. Latham Claflin and John M. Swales.


Species 2011 2010   2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Canada Goose 21 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 35 0 0 0 0
Sandhill Crane 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 3 2 0 0 0
Great Blue Heron 3 0 0 1 0 4 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0
Green-backed Heron 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 8 8 1 2 0 12 2 0 12 7 14 9 4 6
Cooper's Hawk 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 2 6 3 0 1 2
Broad-winged Hawk 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 0 2 1
Red-Tailed Hawk 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 2 0 1 1
American kestral 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ring-billed Gull 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Ruffed Grouse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Wild Turkey 1 8 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 2
Killdeer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Mourning Dove 6 9 8 11 4 8 3 6 6 8 5 1 18 9
Black-billed Cuckoo 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 3 1 1 1
Barred Owl 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Great Horned Owl 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Chimney Swift 0 1 1 0 2 0 5 4 3 3 4 3 0 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3 3 4 0 2 2 4 2 5 4 3 1 3 2
Ring-necked Pheasant 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Red-bellied Woodpecker 11 10 5 17 9 11 13 17 28 10 15 7 11 4
Downy Woodpecker 6 17 9 16 11 9 2 12 4 0 3 10 5 3
Hairy Woodpecker 0 5 4 3 0 3 2 2 3 6 2 0 2 0
Pileated Woodpecker 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Flicker 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 5
Eastern Wood Pewee 52 59 48 57 38 47 46 43 44 48 36 30 30 32
Acadian Flycatcher 19 25 23 25 16 9 5 3 0 2 2 2 1 8
Willow Flycatcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Least Flycatcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Great Crested Flycatcher 6 8 8 2 2 10 8 11 12 10 7 6 15 6
Eastern Phoebe 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0
Olive-sided Flycatcher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Eastern Kingbird 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
Tree Swallow 0 0 1 0 4 0 2 0 2 4 1 0 1 0
Barn Swallow 3 0 0 1 3 1 6 2 3 0 1 2 1 10
Purple Martin 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 4 2 2 0 1 1
Belted Kingfisher 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Mallard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Wood Duck 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Blue Jay 40 63* 37 24 27 33 33 54 53 63 38 41 59 49
American Crow 31 59 38 39 56 36 45 26 41 48 53 55 37 45
Black-capped Chickadee 59* 56 50 45 52 49 47 60 80* 89* 75* 45 73 81*
Tufted Titmouse 24 22 15 36 33 29 29 31 33 22 21 13 21 29
Red-breasted Nuthatch 9 5 15 8 17 18 18 18 11 8 10 20 18 12
White-breasted Nuthatch 15 13 12 13 13 11 9 14 6 12 12 8 15 5
Brown Creeper 6 10 3 4 3 2 2 7 14 2 5 3 5 3
Carolina Wren 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
House Wren 0 2 0 5 3 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 9 5 0 8 3 5 1 11 3 2 11 3 18
Blue-grey gnatcatcher 2 10 14 11 9 1 3 5 5 1 3 1 3 4
Eastern Bluebird 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0
Veery 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Wood Thrush 4 6 6 15 12 8 6 2 16 13 5 4 6 6
American Robin 8 23 11 5 6 6 5 6 7 8 10 16 17 20
Gray Catbird 8 7 2 6 10 6 5 4 9 9 5 6 5 4
Cedar Waxwing 40 11 21 0 10 42 22 23 22 17 26 45 14 24
European Starling 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 4 2 2 0 0 0
Blue-headed Vireo 1 3 5 9 5 5 4 3 3 2 0 0 1 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 4 1 5 6 1 3 1 3 6 2 3 0 3 3
Warbling Vireo 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Red-eyed Vireo 39 46 29 46 39 49 39 50 47 41 36 25 30 19
Blue-winged Warbler 1 2 2 2 0 5 0 3 2 6 3 6 3 1
Yellow Warbler 0 2 0 2 2 4 1 1 5 2 1 2 1 4
Yellow-throated Warbler 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Black-throated Green Warbler 8 13 28 13 10 18 16 29 12 16 16 7 13 11
Blackpoll 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
American Redstart 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Pine Warbler 28 41 30 27 26 23 36 26 31 23 24 15 19 22
Ovenbird 36 39 33 50 35 *51 51 *63 63 57 67 *62 54 53
Common Yellowthroat 7 1 2 1 3 2 5 3 3 5 4 0 1 3
Hooded Warbler 13 18 8 11 1 3 2 3 1 0 2 3 6 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3
Magnolia Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Prairie Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Tennessee Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blackburnian Warbler 0 1 0 1 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Parula 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Black-throated Blue Warbler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Black-and-white warbler 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Scarlet Tanager 10 22 16 22 21 20 17 9 23 8 24 18 13 12
Northern Cardinal 32 32 32 60 34 44 32 44 48 47 30 52 57 39
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 0
Indigo Bunting 8 21 17 18 16 19 25 31 34 20 28 31 27 26
Eastern Towhee 3 11 7 7 7 9 5 7 6 7 9 10 6 8
Chipping Sparrow 43 42 50 62* 57* 28 48 57 45 38 44 53 74* 71
Field Sparrow 0 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 4 2 7 7 4 5
Swamp Sparrow 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Song Sparrow 1 1 1 3 1 0 3 1 2 8 6 9 8 5
Red-winged Blackbird 15 2 1 6 3 4 5 4 11 6 7 6 2 2
Common Grackle 0 0 2 1 1 3 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 17 19 36 16 20 14 8 15 22 12 0 4 18 12
Baltimore Oriole 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 0
Orchard Oriole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
House Finch 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 2 4
American Goldfinch 33 25 *56 32 46 42 *57 23 46 44 43 55 39 43
White-throated Sparrow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Total Species 54 53 53 57 52 61 61 60 58 61 58 49 61 58
Total Individuals 703 800 717 762 688 732 714 754 871 806 738 717 769 753