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Bluebird Bird Counts, Including CBCFrom: "Bobby Wilson" bluebirdbob1"at"bresnan.net Greetings from cold but no snow Colorado I just looked at the top 100 places where Eastern Bluebirds were spotted during the Christmas Bird Count. You can see them listed by going to the CBC site and then look for top 100 species and then type in Eastern Bluebirds. We did not make the top 100 here in Grand Junction CO as we only found 30 Eastern Bluebirds this year. Take a look and see how your area did. You can also look back in time to see if the number are up or down. http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/ Bob Wilson From: "Phil Berry" mrtony8"at"home.com Bobby Wilson wrote:: Bob Wilson Well, My area DID make the Top 100, at #32, Choctawhatchee Bay (Florida) counted 309 EABL's in one day (December 22). BTW, I did NOT see even one on that day, but my name is on the count. An interesting tidbit, if you like stats and numbers, check your own area on this site. I went back as far as records have been kept in my area, and EABL's are coming on strong!!!! During the '70's it was rare to see one here, some years with NONE, increasing to 309 this year. We are making a difference! Phil Berry Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 08:31:50 -0500 Cornell's GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT is in its final day for the 2001 count period. If you will go to the site http://www.birdsource.org you can work your way through to the maproom where reports have been submitted on sightings of all three species of bluebird all across the continent. The results are most revealing and, I think, will dispel many rumors and old-wives' tales about what/where bluebirds go during the winter season. Take a look....you'll be pleasantly surprised. Dean Sheldon, Huron County, Ohio (just south of Lake Erie
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 10:27:16 EST Yes, doing the count, looking at the distribution maps and seeing where the bluebirds ( and others ) are has been fascinating. I was pleased to be able to include some Eastern Bluebirds in my reports. They turned up yesterday for awhile, which they don't everyday. I was suprised to see how many are reported much further north in NY than I am. You can almost see a line of their main distribution going from the northern boundary of MA straight through central NY out to Lake Erie. But even north of this there are a few scattered reports in VT, NH and ME. Many of the questions we are often discussing about their winter locations are, as Dean says answered by these maps. Is there a way that the experts interpret these maps to get a statistical estimate of numbers as well as distribution? There were 192 Eastern Bluebirds reported in NY - taking into account all the various factors affecting how many of the actual population are likely to be reported can they get some idea of this actual population as well? Jane In a Message dated 2/20/01 8:37:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, dsheldonjr"at"hotmail.com writes: Cornell's GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT is in its final day for the 2001 count period. If you will go to the site http://www.birdsource.org you can work your way through to the maproom where reports have been submitted on sightings of all three species of bluebird all across the continent. The results are most revealing and, I think, will dispel many rumors and old-wives' tales about what/where bluebirds go during the winter season. Take a look....you'll be pleasantly surprised. Dean Sheldon, Huron County, Ohio (just south of Lake Erie
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 10:21:55 -0700 As to counts I have the impression that for every bird seen (except for rare birds) that you can multiply by 15. Not sure where that came from or how large an area this covers. I have done that on my trail for years and it seem to work out well. Figuring the number of nest times two to get total pair. You can not always see all the birds out of the nest. When I drive the trail and only see a few if I then multiply by 15 that seem to match up with the actual number. It seem to work for me. Bob Wilson ----- Original Message ----- From: JaneHopeC"at"aol.com Yes, doing the count, looking at the distribution maps and seeing where the In a Message dated 2/20/01 8:37:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, dsheldonjr"at"hotmail.com writes:
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 10:38:43 -0700 If you look at Colorado you will see that all three species are reported there. 54 MOBL, 34 WEBL and 17 EABL. Because EABL are written in they do not appear on the maps. TIP If you want to find a specific bird on the dropdown list and do not want to scroll through the entire list do this. Select the list when it is highlighted then press the first LETTER in the bird name (such as Eastern) until it come up to Eastern Bluebird. This will work on all drop down list. When you are ask for state you do not have to search the whole dropdown list just select and then press the first letter of your state until it come up. Bob Wilson ----- Original Message ----- From: JaneHopeC"at"aol.com Yes, doing the count, looking at the distribution maps and seeing where the In a Message dated 2/20/01 8:37:11 AM Eastern Standard Time, dsheldonjr"at"hotmail.com writes:
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 19:31:15 EST That's very interesting Bob. Coincidentally someone on the Feeder Watch list has just asked about what a count at a feeder means in relation to actual numbers. Apparently in one case 5 birds of a species were counted ( 5 seen at one time - called a high count ) then birds of that species around that feeder were banded and there turned out to actually be 44. This is not too far from the x 15 you use and I suppose concentrations might be a little higher in nesting areas. Jane In a Message dated 2/20/01 1:32:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, bluebirdbob1"at"home.com writes: As to counts I have the impression that for every bird seen (except for rare birds) that you can multiply by 15. Not sure where that came from or how large an area this covers. I have done that on my trail for years and it seem to work out well. Figuring the number of nest times two to get total pair. You can not always see all the birds out of the nest. When I drive the trail and only see a few if I then multiply by 15 that seem to match up with the actual number. It seem to work for me. Bob Wilson
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:32:02 -0700 Jane the nesting area is eight mile in more or less a straight line. I think that the concentration might not be that high for the distance. This sound like a good topic let discuss it some more. Bob Wilson ----- Original Message ----- From: JaneHopeC"at"aol.com That's very interesting Bob. Coincidentally someone on the Feeder Watch list
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 20:14:26 -0500 JaneHopeC"at"aol.com wrote: That's very interesting Bob. Coincidentally someone on the Feeder Watch list A person on my Loons & Larks list has been researching the numbers of downy woodpeckers in her area by photographing the napes of their necks, which are apparently different in each individual, like fingerprints. Although she never sees more than three at a time at her feeders, she had, at last writing, photographed at least 18 individual woodpeckers. I would think, however, that concentrations would differ markedly according to the territory requirements of the different species, and their flocking or solitary habits. A house wren, for instance, requires much less territory than a tufted titmouse or an eastern bluebird, so the concentration could be much higher. A pileated woodpecker has a very large territory, so the concentration is probably much lower. --
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 22:58:21 EST How many boxes in that eight miles Bob? How close together? Katherine makes a good point that different species will have different territory sizes and therefore different concentrations, and I would think territories of each species will vary in and out of breeding season. And in breeding season the availablity of nesting sites will affect the numbers. So if boxes for bluebirds are as close together as they will willingly nest there will be more than there would be if they are far apart or than there might be if only natural cavities are available? In the same way won't availablity of feeders affect the concentration of feeder birds to some extent? So if we see one bird in the woods or a field and not in relation to a nesting site or feeder does it indicate less actual numbers than one bird at a nesting site or a feeder does? Does that make sense? Jane In a Message dated 2/20/01 7:37:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, bluebirdbob1"at"home.com writes: Jane the nesting area is eight mile in more or less a straight line. I think that the concentration might not be that high for the distance. T Kate"at"nirvana.weichi.com writes: A person on my Loons & Larks list has been researching the numbers of downy woodpeckers in her area by photographing the napes of their necks, which are apparently different in each individual, like fingerprints. Although she never sees more than three at a time at her feeders, she had, at last writing, photographed at least 18 individual woodpeckers. I would think, however, that concentrations would differ markedly according to the territory requirements of the different species, and their flocking or solitary habits. A house wren, for instance, requires much less territory than a tufted titmouse or an eastern bluebird, so the concentration could be much higher. A pileated woodpecker has a very large territory, so the concentration is probably much lower.
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 22:03:30 -0600 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Thanks for the site Dean! I noticed in Texas a whopping 1,000 eastern bluebirds were reported!!! There also were over 23,000 House Sparrows and 18,000 Starlings reported, that's about 20,000 nest cavities going to non-native species and if you multiply that by Bob Wilson's unseen multiplier of 15 then 300,000 nest sites need to be available just for the House Sparrows and Starlings. Well I'm off to the shop to build more boxes :-) KK From: Lawrence Herbert, lherbert"at"4state.com Two Christmas Bird Counts in extreme sw Missouri showed a good count for our Eastern Bluebird: Joplin MO had 197 EABL and Liberal MO (grassland and winter wheat) had 107. Both high counts. Carolina Wren is doing ok also so far this winter here: 32 and 11 respectively. Carolina Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse are both down a little here in sw MO. Good birding, Larry H. Joplin, Jasper County, sw Missouri. From: Tina Phillips, cbp6"at"cornell.edu Hi everyone, I was intrigued by the recent string of posts regarding over wintering bluebirds and was trying to figure out a way to collect that information on a large scale. Then I realized that a database already exists which can collect all this information and more—eBird! eBird http://www.ebird.org is a new, interactive database of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that allows you to enter any bird sightings from anywhere in North America and at anytime throughout the year. The great thing about eBird is that it will manage all of your submissions, no matter how many and will accept bird sightings dating back to 1960! When you click "View and Explore Data" you can see your own data or that of the entire database. Here is where you can search for sightings of bluebirds in your state or region, during the winter months, across several years, etc. Additionally, eBird's functionality is constantly being improved and modified, so many new features will be available in the near future. An example of the cool stuff we can find out with this interactive database, is how birds respond to winter weather. The Carolina Wren and Tufted Titmouse, both cavity-nesting species, for example, appear to have suffered population declines in the northern parts of their ranges following the 2002-2003 winter's frigid temperatures and snowfall. To get started, click on the "Submit Your Observations" tab and register just once which involves creating a user name and password. The registration process is made even easier if you have previously entered data into The Birdhouse Network database, then you just need to enter the same password and user name into eBird. Once you register, there are three things to enter into eBird: where did you see birds?, when did you see birds?, and what birds did you see? If you have entered data into TBN before you will see a pull down list of all your nest boxes in the link that says "Choose from My Locations". If you are reporting birds from an existing site, you can choose it from the list of nest box names closest to where you saw birds. If you are reporting birds seen in a new location or have never entered data into TBN, then you will need to create a new location either by finding it on a map, entering the latitude/longitude, or by city name. Once you have chosen or created a location, continue to the next set of questions regarding when you saw birds. Using the eBird database, it'll be really fun to watch where bluebirds are seen, and where they're not, and how that changes as winter progresses. Give eBird a try—after you have entered a few bird sightings, it will become really straightforward and simple. Have fun! Tina Phillips Tina Phillips The Birdhouse Network Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850 From: mrtony8 [mailto:mrtony8 "at"cox.net] From: Lawrence Herbert [mailto:lherbert"at"4state.com] Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 6:28 PM Subject: EABL CBC sw MO I compile CBC info for two CBC's here in sw Missouri. Happy New Year and Good birding, Larry H. Joplin, Jasper County, MO. From: Lawrence Herbert [mailto:lherbert"at"4state.com] Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 7:04 PM Subject: EABL in Joplin Our Christmas Bird Count in Joplin, (sw) Other cavity nesters: Wood Duck 0 Red-headed 17 Good birding, Larry H. Joplin (sw) MO. From: Lawrence Herbert [mailto:lherbert"at"4state.com] Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 4:35 PM Subject: MOBL - 5737 According to the compiler, the Kenton / Black Mesa CBC (western panhandle of Good birding, Larry H. Joplin MO. From: Kathleen Arnold [mailto:koscharn"at"cox.net]
Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2006 10:45 AM Subject: RE: Counting birds One way to count birds is to take a picture, then count how many birds are in the picture. You can even do this from inside, if your window is close to the hummingbird feeder(s). One friend of mine counted 27 hummers in a snapshot and he knows there were more out of frame. Kate Arnold, Paris, Texas |
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