123rd Audubon Christmas Bird Count

Audubon Christmas Bird Count
"Skate Birding" helps gets birders up close to the action for censuses Christmas Bird Count Princeton

123rd Annual Christmas Bird Count


Sunday, December 18, 2022 (Princeton Count)

Sunday, January 1, 2023 (Trenton Count)

*** WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES ***

The Princeton and Trenton Counts will still be held despite the COVID-19 pandemic.  WCAS has been sponsoring the CBC for a number of years. This year, the compilers of the Princeton and Trenton Counts will run a COVID-19 safe and socially distanced CBC. Outdoor activities are generally considered to be safe and mask wearing will be optional. Participants can drive in their own car. If you are interested in learning about this event and participating, the requirements are a pair of binoculars and the ability to identify our local resident birds. Each group meets early in the day at an assigned location and records all birds seen and heard. This list is compiled, reported to the national database and posted on our website. We are looking for new “counters” that can commit to this one day a year to help collect data on our local bird populations. Please join us.

This year marks the 123rd anniversary of the first Christmas Bird Count, when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by ornithologist Frank Chapman, changed the course of history. On Christmas Day 1900, the group initiated an alternative to the traditional holiday ‘side hunt,’ in which teams competed to see which could shoot the most birds. Instead of hunting, the group counted the birds they saw and founded a century-old institution.

In the past over 50,000 volunteers from all 50 states, every Canadian province, parts of Central and South America, Bermuda, the West Indies, and Pacific islands have counted and recorded every individual bird and bird species encountered during one calendar day. Up to 1800 individual Christmas Bird Counts will be held during a two-and-a-half week period. Each count group has a designated circle 15 miles in diameter-about 177 square miles–where they try to cover as much ground as possible within a 24-hour calendar day.

Christmas Bird Count serves as an up-to-the-minute bird census. Counters catalogue every bird and bird species they see over one calendar day, from midnight to midnight. Growing in popularity since its inception, the count serves an important scientific function as well. Birds are one of the first groups of animals to be affected by environmental threats like pollution and habitat destruction, and CBC data provide indispensable information, not only on long-term health of bird populations, but also the status of the environment that birds share with all living things.

Apart from its attraction as a usually social, sporting, and competitive event, the annual count reveals interesting and scientifically useful information on the early-winter distribution patterns of various bird species and the over-all health of the environment.

The Christmas Bird Count is the longest running ornithological database. It continues to grow in importance as a means to monitor the status of resident and migratory bird populations across the western hemisphere. The CBC is 100% volunteer generated data that, over the years, has become a crucial part of the United States Government’s natural history monitoring database. Count data from 1900 to the present are currently available through BirdSource (www.birdsource.org), a cooperative project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

For more information, contact Brad Merritt at 609-921-8964, or e-mail balmerritt@aol.com

Princeton CBC 2019 Results

Snow Goose4252
Cackling Goose1
Canada Goose11637
Mute Swan5
Wood Duck2
Gadwall14
American Wigeon14
American Black Duck 37
Mallard 309
Northern Pintail 1
Ring-necked Duck39
Bufflehead 11
Hooded Merganser 34
Common Merganser 365
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck110
duck sp. 22
Ring-necked Pheasant6
Pied-billed Grebe3
Double-crested
Cormorant
5
Great Blue Heron (Blue
form)
30
Black Vulture256
Turkey Vulture573
Osprey1
Northern Harrier23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk15
Bald Eagle33
Red-shouldered Hawk9
Red-tailed Hawk74
Rough-legged Hawk1
Buteo sp.1
Killdeer 8
Ring-billed Gull477
Herring Gull806
Lesser Black-backed Gull2
Great Black-backed Gull17
gull sp.2
Rock Pigeon (Feral
Pigeon)
205
Mourning Dove298
Eastern Screech-Owl5
Great Horned Owl4
Belted Kingfisher13
Red-headed Woodpecker5
Red-bellied Woodpecker236
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker17
Downy Woodpecker106
Hairy Woodpecker26
Northern Flicker153
Pileated Woodpecker14
American Kestrel3
Merlin2
Eastern Phoebe 1cw
Blue Jay505
American Crow218
Fish Crow123
crow sp.14
Common Raven3
Horned Lark10
Carolina Chickadee32
Black-capped Chickadee1
chickadee sp.92
Tufted Titmouse97
White-breasted Nuthatch107
Brown Creeper12
House Wren1
Winter Wren14
Carolina Wren183
Golden-crowned Kinglet22
Ruby-crowned Kinglet14
Eastern Bluebird173
Hermit Thrush6
American Robin2804
Gray Catbird2
Northern Mockingbird35
European Starling3970
Cedar Waxwing28
Pine Warbler1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)63
American Tree Sparrow22
Field Sparrow36
Fox Sparrow5
Dark-eyed Junco (Slatecolored)441
White-throated Sparrow837
Song Sparrow210
Swamp Sparrow26
Eastern Towhee62
Northern Cardinal118
Red-winged Blackbird6607
Eastern Meadowlark 19
Rusty Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 21565
Brown-headed Cowbird217
blackbird sp.510
House Finch 348
American Goldfinch193
House Sparrow 76
Total Individuals60112
Total Species Reported90

Princeton CBC 2019 Results

Snow Goose4252
Cackling Goose1
Canada Goose11637
Mute Swan5
Wood Duck2
Gadwall14
American Wigeon14
American Black Duck 37
Mallard 309
Northern Pintail 1
Ring-necked Duck39
Bufflehead 11
Hooded Merganser 34
Common Merganser 365
Red-breasted Merganser 1
Ruddy Duck110
duck sp. 22
Ring-necked Pheasant6
Pied-billed Grebe3
Double-crested
Cormorant
5
Great Blue Heron (Blue
form)
30
Black Vulture256
Turkey Vulture573
Osprey1
Northern Harrier23
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk15
Bald Eagle33
Red-shouldered Hawk9
Red-tailed Hawk74
Rough-legged Hawk1
Buteo sp.1
Killdeer 8
Ring-billed Gull477
Herring Gull806
Lesser Black-backed Gull2
Great Black-backed Gull17
gull sp.2
Rock Pigeon (Feral
Pigeon)
205
Mourning Dove298
Eastern Screech-Owl5
Great Horned Owl4
Belted Kingfisher13
Red-headed Woodpecker5
Red-bellied Woodpecker236
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker17
Downy Woodpecker106
Hairy Woodpecker26
Northern Flicker153
Pileated Woodpecker14
American Kestrel3
Merlin2
Eastern Phoebe 1cw
Blue Jay505
American Crow218
Fish Crow123
crow sp.14
Common Raven3
Horned Lark10
Carolina Chickadee32
Black-capped Chickadee1
chickadee sp.92
Tufted Titmouse97
White-breasted Nuthatch107
Brown Creeper12
House Wren1
Winter Wren14
Carolina Wren183
Golden-crowned Kinglet22
Ruby-crowned Kinglet14
Eastern Bluebird173
Hermit Thrush6
American Robin2804
Gray Catbird2
Northern Mockingbird35
European Starling3970
Cedar Waxwing28
Pine Warbler1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)63
American Tree Sparrow22
Field Sparrow36
Fox Sparrow5
Dark-eyed Junco (Slatecolored)441
White-throated Sparrow837
Song Sparrow210
Swamp Sparrow26
Eastern Towhee62
Northern Cardinal118
Red-winged Blackbird6607
Eastern Meadowlark 19
Rusty Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 21565
Brown-headed Cowbird217
blackbird sp.510
House Finch 348
American Goldfinch193
House Sparrow 76
Total Individuals60112
Total Species Reported90

Trenton CBC 2019 Results

Snow Goose2
Cackling Goose1
Canada Goose8798
Mute Swan1
Wood Duck19
Gadwall120
American Wigeon2
American Black Duck275
Mallard295
Northern Shoveler19
Northern Pintail8
Green-winged Teal9
Ring-necked Duck237
Bufflehead12
Common Goldeneye18
Hooded Merganser36
Common Merganser276
Red-breasted Merganser1
Ruddy Duck2
Wild Turkey1
Double-crested
Cormorant
1
Great Cormorant6
Great Blue Heron (Blue
form)
14
Black Vulture52
Turkey Vulture117
Northern Harrier5
Cooper's Hawk4
Bald Eagle10
Red-shouldered Hawk2
Red-tailed Hawk18
Ring-billed Gull1657
Herring Gull7748
Lesser Black-backed Gull6
Glaucous Gull1
Great Black-backed Gull279
gull sp.12
Rock Pigeon (Feral
Pigeon)
414
Mourning Dove199
Eastern Screech-Owl1
Belted Kingfisher9
Red-bellied Woodpecker55
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9
Downy Woodpecker45
Hairy Woodpecker12
Northern Flicker46
Pileated Woodpecker1
American Kestrel3
Merlin1
Blue Jay505
American Crow71
Fish Crow142
crow sp.15
Carolina Chickadee43
chickadee sp.13
Tufted Titmouse45
White-breasted Nuthatch27
Brown Creeper4
Winter Wren14
Carolina Wren79
Golden-crowned Kinglet6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet4
Hermit Thrush4
American Robin321
Gray Catbird2
Northern Mockingbird18
European Starling5414
Cedar Waxwing3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)38
Field Sparrow16
Fox Sparrow5
Dark-eyed Junco (Slatecolored)104
White-throated Sparrow 284
Song Sparrow92
Swamp Sparrow23
Eastern Towhee7
Northern Cardinal83
Red-winged Blackbird191
Eastern Meadowlark19
Common Grackle1752
Brown-headed Cowbird10
blackbird sp.12
House Finch 32
American Goldfinch11
House Sparrow67
Total Individuals29958
Total Species Reported80