Birds Etcetera Marks First Anniversary

One year ago today, Birds Etcetera was launched with this delicious article.

West Virginia Bird Highlights (June-August 2002)

The following excerpts are from the Appalachian Region nesting-season report edited by Robert C. Leberman and published in North American Birds (Volume 56, Number 4, Pages 435-437):

Tricolored Heron.--One on the Shenandoah River, Jefferson County, 31 July-6 August (Matt Orsie, John Trapp, and other observers) “provided a first State record of the species.”

American Wigeon.--One on the Ohio River at Blennerhassett Island, Parkersburg, July 20 (Jon Benedetti, David Esker, & John Tharp) was “unusual.”

Northern Harrier.--Sightings from Logan, Boone, and Grant counties (Ron Canterbury) were suggestive of increased numbers “after years of low population levels.”

Black-billed Cuckoo.--Present in “good numbers” in southern WV (Ron Canterbury).

Yellow-billed Cuckoo.--Present in “good numbers” in southern WV (Ron Canterbury).

Whip-poor-will.--It “seemed to be recovering from recent lows in s. West Virginia,” with 15 reported from Raleigh, McDowell, and Wyoming counties (Ron Canterbury).

Red-breasted Nuthatch.--Nesting birds were considered “’very common’” at Cranberry Glades, Pocahontas County (George Breiding).

Golden-winged Warbler.--Southern WV continues to be a stronghold for this species, with 475 individualls tallied (Ron Canterbury).

Blue-winged Warbler.--185 individuals were counted in southern WV (Ron Canterbury).

Brewster’s Warbler.--8 individuals were found in southern WV, including 3 “found in a 2.4-km stretch on a mountain top removal site along Coal River Mt., Raleigh County” (Ron Canterbury).

Prothonotary Warbler.--A pair was seen feeding young on Blennerhassett Island, Wood County, on 20 July (Jon Benedetti, David Ester, & John Tharp).

Clay-colored Sparrow.--A “pair nested” in the Canaan Valley, Tucker County, for the second year in a row (Gary Felton).

Henslow’s Sparrow.--”A few . . . nested” in Tucker County, where “young were found” in late July (Gary Felton).

Indigo Bunting.--Reportedly down in numbers in southern WV (Ron Canterbury).

Bobolink.--Present ‘in good numbers” as far south as Logan, Raleigh, and Fayette counties (Ron Canterbury).

Purple Finch.--A pair at a feeder in Wood County, 7 & 14 July (fide Jeanette Esker) was well west of the higher ridges of the Allegheny Mountains.

House Finch.--It appeared to be increasing in Morgantown “after a decline of several years” (George Breiding), suggesting “recovery from the conjunctivitis epidemic.”

West Virginia's Wintering Waterbirds

In the last 10 years, 1993-1994 to 2002-2003 (Christmas Bird Counts 94-103), West Virginia CBC participants have conducted a total of 153 counts at 17 different sites (15-mile diameter count circles) and tallied 82102 individual waterbirds of 47 species during 7164.7 party-hours afield, for an average of about 11.5 individuals per party-hour (based on data extracted from the CBC online database at http://birdsource.org).

A. The 10 Most Numerous Species

(1) Canada Goose - 44210 individuals
(2) Mallard - 25652
(3) Ring-billed Gull - 2758
(4) American Black Duck - 1860
(5) Great Blue Heron - 1293
(6) Hooded Merganser - 1224
(7) Killdeer - 1029
(8) American Coot - 969
(9) Bufflehead - 397
(10) Pied-billed Grebe - 362

B. The 10 Most Frequently Recorded Species

(1) Mallard - 149 counts
(2) Canada Goose - 143
(3) Great Blue Heron - 131
(4) American Black Duck - 107
(5) Hooded Merganser - 89
(6) Pied-billed Grebe - 86
(7) Killdeer - 79
(8) Ring-billed Gull - 70
(9) American Coot - 69
(10) Wood Duck - 60

C. The 11 Most Widely Distributed Species

(1) Great Blue Heron - 17 count circles
(2) Mallard - 17
(3) Canada Goose - 16
(4) Hooded Merganser - 16
(5) Pied-billed Grebe - 15
(6) American Black Duck - 15
(7) Common Loon - 14
(8) Wood Duck - 14
(9) Killdeer - 14
(10) Bufflehead - 13
(11) Ruddy Duck - 13

D. Detailed Species List

The following four statistics are provided for each species (in order): number of years recorded (out of 10) during count day or count week, number of CBC circles recorded (out of 17) during count day or count week, number of counts recorded (out of 153) during count day or count week, number of birds tallied on count day:

Common Loon - 10, 14, 36, 46;
Pied-billed Grebe - 10, 15, 86, 362;
Horned Grebe - 6, 8, 11, 11;
Double-crested Cormorant - 9, 9, 23, 90;
Great Blue Heron - 10, 17, 131, 1293;
Green Heron - 2, 1, 2, 1;
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2, 2, 2, 1;
Snow Goose - 7, 7, 12, 77 (18.2% blue, 58.4% white, 23.4% unknown);
Canada Goose - 10, 16, 143, 44210;
Brant - 1, 1, 1, 2;
Mute Swan - 6, 7, 11, 27;
Tundra Swan - 4, 8, 9, 44;
Trumpeter Swan - 1, 1, 1, 2;
Wood Duck - 10, 14, 60, 274;
Gadwall - 10, 11, 38, 313;
American Wigeon - 10, 12, 35, 127;
American Black Duck - 10, 15, 107, 1860;
Mallard - 10, 17, 149, 25652;
Blue-winged Teal - 4, 4, 5, 11;
Northern Shoveler - 9, 7, 15, 69;
Northern Pintail - 8, 7, 10, 33;
Green-winged Teal - 10, 11, 38, 159;
Canvasback - 9, 8, 15, 49;
Redhead - 7, 5, 9, 20;
Ring-necked Duck - 10, 10, 40, 156;
Greater Scaup - 6, 3, 6, 16;
Lesser Scaup - 8, 11, 20, 87;
scaup sp. - 3, 2, 4, 29;
Long-tailed Duck/Oldsquaw - 2, 2, 3, 2;
Surf Scoter - 2, 2, 2, 5;
Bufflehead - 10, 13, 52, 397;
Common Goldeneye - 10, 6, 22, 59;
Hooded Merganser - 10, 16, 89, 1224;
Common Merganser - 10, 8, 16, 49;
Red-breasted Merganser - 9, 8, 11, 22;
Ruddy Duck - 9, 13, 33, 139;
Osprey - 2, 4, 4, 2;
Bald Eagle - 10, 10, 39, 64;
American Coot - 10, 12, 69, 969;
Sandhill Crane - 1, 1, 1, 6;
Killdeer - 10, 14, 79, 1029;
Spotted Sandpiper - 1, 1, 1, 1;
Wilson’s/Common Snipe - 10, 9, 42, 113;
American Woodcock - 3, 3, 3, 4;
Bonaparte’s Gull - 6, 3, 12, 14;
Ring-billed Gull - 10, 11, 70, 2758;
Herring Gull - 10, 6, 23, 57;
Great Black-backed Gull - 1, 1, 1, 1;
gull sp. - 7, 3, 9, 165; and
Totals - 10, 17, 153, 82102.

E. Comparison of Winter Goose : Duck Ratios (2002-2003)

Christmas Bird Count: 5659 geese (67%) and 2754 ducks (33%).
West Virginia Waterfowl Migration Census*: 7996 geese (66%) and 4062 ducks (34%).
West Virginia DNR Mid-Winter Waterfowl Count: 3743 geese (59%) and 2613 ducks (41%).
*December data only, from Matt Orsie (may include CBC data)

(Originally posted to the WV-Bird listserv on 2/12/03)