Numbers were up over last year’s results in the 2023 Christmas Bird Count organized by Nature Chilliwack.
There were more birds spotted by more birders during the event on Dec. 16 in Chilliwack, according to organizer Denis Knopp.
The annual count attracted 41 counters on 16 different routes, as well as 10 feeder watchers.
“The number of individual bird counters and groups were up from last year’s count,” Knopp wrote in his annual CBC report released Jan. 15.
“Counters did an excellent job as usual of finding and identifying birds.”
They counted 98 different bird species, and one count week species, which was the same as last year. The total of individual birds came to 45,000, which was an increase of 5,724 birds.
“This year’s numbers were above average,” Knopp said.
Last year they had 14 groups in cars on count routes with 34 observers.
“This year, we had 16 groups in cars with 41 observers.”
This year seven species broke records for individuals, and one tied a past record.
The record-breaking high counts included: 10,792 cackling geese, 77 northern shovelers, 147 northern pintails, 824 lesser scaups, 11 western gulls, 2 orange-crowned warblers, 568 white-crowned sparrows.
Merlin tied the 2014 high of eight, and Bewick’s wren was one down from the 1979 high of 10 individual birds.
“We recorded 41 Anna’s hummingbirds and last year 40, which was 63 below the 2018 high of 102 birds.”
Eurasian collared doves were down with 195 seen this year, 167 lower than the 2019 high count of 362 doves.
“We found three owl species on count day this year.”
There were two great horned owls and one northern pygmy-owl, plus a barn owl for count week.
“There were some species with relatively low numbers, too.”
Only 46 American robins and 35 pine siskins were observed, plus they have never see more than one northern pygmy-owl.
“We had some rare species as well on the count day, one Harris’s sparrow, eight bohemian waxwings and on count week seven mourning doves.
”We also had a new species: a white-breasted nuthatch.”
Audubon also collects and prints birds observed in the Chilliwack CBC count week.
This year, count week was Dec. 14 to to Dec. 20, and one species was observed that was not seen on count day included a rare species for our area, seven mourning doves. Count week helps to shows birds that occur in the count area but eluded counters on the count day.
“So next year, be sure to report birds that you saw three days before or after the count date that were not located by anyone on the count day. You can report a count week bird anywhere in the 24.07 km diameter count circle.”
One new bird species for Chilliwack, the white-breasted nuthatch, was observed during the CBC count day, and on count week this year.
‘New’ birds are defined as birds never before seen on the Chilliwack CBC day or week, while ‘rare’ birds include birds that are unusual species.
“For simplicity and clarity that means ‘new/rare’ birds are birds that have not been seen on our count for six years or more.”
READ MORE: Rarities seen in 2023 CBC count in Chilliwack
