The Great Backyard Bird Count, 2019
The Great Backyard Bird Count was held February 15-18th, and as usual Judy and I were happy to participate. All you have to do is choose a spot and spend a few minutes or a couple of hours counting birds.
This citizen science project provides a snapshot of avian populations, with over 193,000 bird checklists submitted from around the world. The effort is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada.
Judy and I like to do our bird counting from the comfort of our back porch. Our count was reflective of what we’ve been seeing over the winter: for starters, lots of Northern Cardinals and Goldfinches.
Northern Cardinals are one of my favorite birds, and fortunately they stick around through the whole year.
Goldfinches have also been plentiful. I’ve counted up to 20 at a time. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, a flock of Goldfinches is called a “charm”, which seems very apt. Seems like it won’t be long before they put on their bright summer plumage.
There have also been quite a few Juncos and an occasional House Finch.
Woodpeckers have also been a fairly constant presence. The most dramatic has been the Red-Bellied Woodpecker, who show up at the feeders to eat suet and peanuts.
Sadly, we haven’t seen any Northern Flickers in a long time.
As usual, the little Downies are the most common of the Woodpeckers. They are a fairly constant presence.
We also get occasional Bluejay appearances. They are close relatives of crows, but their coloring makes them appear much friendlier.
This year I think there are far fewer Mourning Doves than there used to be.
In late winter the Starlings start showing up at the feeders. I’ve been told that up until now they are hoovering every kind of fruit that they can find. When the fruit is gone, they start hitting the bird seed and peanuts.
I think of Starlings as the Hell’s Angels of the backyard bird world because they travel in gangs and look like they are wearing black leather jackets.
So that was our bird count for 2019. Have you noticed any changes in how many/what kind of birds you’ve been seeing in the garden this winter?
gardeninacity 
It sounds your bird count Jason is successful – so many birds have been fed and counted. Here starlings seems never fly away to south – they are always near shopping center eating seeds and bread. It’s very unusual. I love goldfinches, especially males with their red caps.
Ours have black caps!
All your birds in one post…..very interesting! I’ve always liked the Northern Cardinal, the colour and also the cute tuff of feathers on its head. I like “a charm” of Goldfinches, I find many little birds charming, perhaps because we are surrounded by so many big ones, here in Canberra. I did not know the Bluejays were relatives of the crow, they look so very different. ….and yes, we have a few bird Hell’s Angels asserting themselves here in Australia!
You have a lot of big birds, very colorful ones. Our bigger birds are mostly predators, but we rarely get a glimpse of them.
Yes, I do notice that there are fewer House Sparrows this year. I am grateful for that. Last summer we didn’t feed the birds because the house sparrows were becoming too many. It seemed to work. They must have gone on to greener pastures so to speak. We only had about 60 house sparrows this winter. My favorite bird this winter was Red-breasted Nuthatch. There were two here all winter. They are still here. I imagine once it warms up they will be off to the North again. The past couple of days the blackbirds have returned. Common Grackles and Red-wing Blackbirds are fussing with the Starling around the feeders. I think there might be fewer Cardnials at the feeders this year. I don’t know if they were discouraged by no feed during summer or if there was a different reason there aren’t as many.
We didn’t see any Red-breasted Nuthatches but we did see an occasional Whitebreasted.
We have a small, fiesty bird called a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet that comes to the feeders this time of year and is fun to watch.
I have seen them! But they never come to our feeders. There is also a Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
I participated too, and also do the weekly Feederwatch. We have some of the same birds; well, not the exact same birds, just the same species. 🙂 I had some work done on my back patio and roof in the past week, I think some of my birds have been scared off! Nice post!
I should do the feederwatch. Maybe when I retire and don’t travel so much.
A wonderful project! What a joy it is to see birds in the backyard. We have the same birds as you do with the addition of nuthatches—both types—tufted titmouse, and perhaps my favorite, the dear little chickadee, Maine’s state bird.
We have the White-Breasted Nuthatches. We saw the Red-Breasted only one unusual winter. We usually have Chickadees every day but we haven’t seen them this winter.
Hope those chickadees return in the spring!
Lots of activity at your feeders! I’m envious of your cardinals as we don’t have them here; they’re such beautiful birds.
They are gorgeous, and really brighten up the winter landscape.
I moved the feeders from the back to the front yard, and unfortunately viewing avian activity is more difficult. However, I have seen most of what you have, as well as chickadees and nuthatches. No mourning doves, though, or starlings… yet. Your (or Judy’s) pix are great!
Surprised you don’t see Mourning Doves or Starlings, I kind of assumed they were everywhere in the Midwest.
I stumbled onto a flock of bluebirds recently. It was only the second time I had seen any.
We don’t have bluebirds around here – too urban. I think they like open fields.
Yes, I’ve read that.
I’ve been so happy to hear all of the bird songs and calls back home now in North Carolina — it’s practically spring so the cardinals, chickadees, and wrens are doing their thing. It was quiet in Quebec, aside from the chickadees and downy woodpeckers.
I imagine the spring birdsong is in full voice there right now.
Your garden birds are so colourful, especially the wonderful cardinal. Nothing quite that here in the UK. We recently put up a bird-feeding station outside our kitchen window and it’s giving us so much pleasure to watch the birds. Even the teenagers are hooked 🙂
We found the same with our kids and their friends.
I think a pair of bluejays has babies already. They’re flying back and forth to my balcony, carrying off peanuts in the shell — the only thing I can put out that doesn’t attract dozens of pigeons. I heard mourning dove coos this morning, and stepped out to discover a little courtship going on. They’ll have babies soon, too.
Otherwise, here’s what else I saw just now: pelicans, cormorants, gulls, common terns, and an osprey. It’s a different world, for sure.
Didn’t know bluejays like peanuts. Cardinals like them, too, which was a surprise.
Loved seeing your birds, starling do seem to have a mob mentality! Oh….those woodpeckers! We seem to have more species each year, sadly no sparrows though. I know you have lots of them!xxx
We usually have lots of House Sparrows, called English Sparrows, though they are actually finches. They can be kind of a nuisance, actually. Though this winter there haven’t been so many.
We participate in the count too and it is interesting to compare data from year to year. Our song bird populations have remained steady but we’ve seen an increase in bluebird populations and more woodpeckers. This year we also had several hawks claiming our backyard.
Wonderful that you have more bluebirds. I wish we had them here.
How wonderful. I love this post and idea of keeping count of what types. I enjoy when cardinals come to my feeders in the winter. Its almost like they have a halo around them when it snows.
Cardinals are definitely one of my favorites.