Category: News

How many bird species in North Central Washington have been entered into eBird in 2021

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eBird continues to gather bird sightings at a rapid pace. With over 1 billion entries, the database is a rich repository of bird data that allows us to explore numbers, species, timing, and distribution of birds around the globe.

Two immediate questions you might have about the birds in North Central Washington are: “Which species have been seen and reported to eBird?”, and “How many species have we seen this year?”

Bird sightings and eBird “ticks” accummulate throughout the year. Many people start a “year list” on January 1st each year to track the number of species they see during the year. eBird allows us to expand that idea by looking at all the species that people report within the NCWAS four-county area. The graph below shows the progression of numbers of species seen during 2021. The data are current as of October 31, 2021. It is fairly easy to see that by the end of January all the “low hanging fruit” sightings are recorded. The numbers swell during Spring migration and now, when the season turns cold and the mirgrants are gone, we see seasonal waterfowl and a few rarities. The total number of species seen in our area in 2020 (270) is shown for comparison. Five more species than in all of 2020 have been reported as of October 31, 2021. How many more will be added? Time will tell.

Starting in 2022 I hope to provide a monthly list that shows the species accumulate during the year. The list of the 275 species seen so far in the NCWAS area in 2021 is below.

2021 species as of 10/31/21
American Avocet
American Bittern
American Coot
American Crow
American Dipper
American Goldfinch
American Kestrel
American Pipit
American Redstart
American Robin
American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Tree Sparrow
American White Pelican
American Wigeon
Anna’s Hummingbird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Baird’s Sandpiper
Bald Eagle
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bank Swallow
Barn Owl
Barn Swallow
Barred Owl
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Belted Kingfisher
Bewick’s Wren
Black Swift
Black Tern
Black-backed Woodpecker
Black-bellied Plover
Black-billed Magpie
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Black-headed Grosbeak
Black-necked Stilt
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black-throated Sparrow
Blue Jay
Blue-winged Teal
Bobolink
Bohemian Waxwing
Bonaparte’s Gull
Boreal Chickadee
Boreal Owl
Brewer’s Blackbird
Brewer’s Sparrow
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Creeper
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bufflehead
Bullock’s Oriole
Bushtit
Cackling Goose
California Gull
California Quail
California Scrub-Jay
Calliope Hummingbird
Canada Goose
Canada Jay
Canvasback
Canyon Wren
Caspian Tern
Cassin’s Finch
Cassin’s Vireo
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Chipping Sparrow
Chukar
Cinnamon Teal
Clark’s Grebe
Clark’s Nutcracker
Clay-colored Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Common Goldeneye
Common Loon
Common Merganser
Common Nighthawk
Common Poorwill
Common Raven
Common Redpoll
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper’s Hawk
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Dunlin
Dusky Flycatcher
Dusky Grouse
Eared Grebe
Eastern Kingbird
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Wigeon
European Starling
Evening Grosbeak
Flammulated Owl
Forster’s Tern
Fox Sparrow
Franklin’s Gull
Gadwall
Glaucous Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Golden Eagle
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Gray Flycatcher
Gray Partridge
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Great Horned Owl
Greater Sage-Grouse
Greater Scaup
Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater Yellowlegs
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Harlequin Duck
Harris’s Sparrow
Hermit Thrush
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Horned Grebe
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Iceland Gull
Killdeer
Lapland Longspur
Lark Sparrow
Lazuli Bunting
Least Flycatcher
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Loggerhead Shrike
Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Dowitcher
Long-eared Owl
Long-tailed Duck
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Mallard
Marsh Wren
Merlin
Mountain Bluebird
Mountain Chickadee
Mourning Dove
Nashville Warbler
Northern Flicker
Northern Goshawk
Northern Harrier
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Pintail
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Northern Shoveler
Northern Shrike
Northern Waterthrush
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Osprey
Pacific Loon
Pacific Wren
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Parasitic Jaeger
Pectoral Sandpiper
Peregrine Falcon
Pied-billed Grebe
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Grosbeak
Pine Siskin
Prairie Falcon
Purple Finch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Red Crossbill
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-eyed Vireo
Redhead
Red-naped Sapsucker
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Phalarope
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rock Wren
Rough-legged Hawk
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruddy Duck
Ruffed Grouse
Rufous Hummingbird
Rusty Blackbird
Sabine’s Gull
Sage Thrasher
Sagebrush Sparrow
Sanderling
Sandhill Crane
Savannah Sparrow
Say’s Phoebe
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Short-billed Gull
Short-eared Owl
Snow Bunting
Snow Goose
Snowy Owl
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sooty Grouse
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Towhee
Spruce Grouse
Steller’s Jay
Stilt Sandpiper
Surf Scoter
Swainson’s Hawk
Swainson’s Thrush
Swamp Sparrow
Townsend’s Solitaire
Townsend’s Warbler
Tree Swallow
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Turkey Vulture
Varied Thrush
Vaux’s Swift
Veery
Vesper Sparrow
Violet-green Swallow
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
Western Bluebird
Western Grebe
Western Kingbird
Western Meadowlark
Western Sandpiper
Western Screech-Owl
Western Tanager
Western Wood-Pewee
Whimbrel
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-headed Woodpecker
White-tailed Ptarmigan
White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Swift
White-winged Crossbill
White-winged Scoter
Wild Turkey
Williamson’s Sapsucker
Willow Flycatcher
Wilson’s Phalarope
Wilson’s Snipe
Wilson’s Warbler
Wood Duck
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-billed Loon
Yellow-breasted Chat
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Raptor Ramblings – November 2021- Coulee City

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This is the first part of a continuing narrative describing our participation in the Winter Raptor Survey project which is going on in Washington state. This project was developed and is coordinated by Jeff Fleischer of East Cascades Audubon Society out of Bend, Oregon. We are a mother/daughter team (Marilyn and Amanda Sherling) belonging to North Central Audubon Society.  We drive three survey routes each month, beginning in November and going through March. Usually on these routes, I drive and Amanda photographs and we both count. We travel pre-approved survey routes and count the various species of birds of prey. These “Raptor Ramblings” will be a brief accounting of some of these trips.

The survey we are embarking on today is a brand new route. It was added by Jeff Fleischer, the developer, as he seeks to expand the survey area in Washington state, and Amanda and I have taken it on. It is named “Coulee City,” as that is a center spot in the area covered. 

As with any area in North Central Washington, we usually encounter snow in the winter. One challenge in outlining a route is determining what roads get plowed after it snows. If it isn’t plowed, we can’t drive it. When we started this project, I downloaded maps from the Douglas and Grant County websites which show the roads that are plowed in the winter. That way, I can compare it with the route Jeff gives me to see if all the roads are drivable, and make necessary adjustments. Of course, once it snows, we get the real test as to whether the map is accurate. But it’s a place to start.

The Coulee City route starts at the north end of the town of Soap Lake and finishes in Hartline. The total mileage for this route is 80 miles, and the starting point is 62 miles from my home in the Monitor area.  I pick up Amanda in East Wenatchee and we head to Soap Lake.

There are thick clouds, high overhead and it is 46°F, with a little wind. We head north along Highway 17 along the lakes in the coulee, Soap Lake, Lake Lenore, Alkali Lake, Blue Lake, and Park Lake. We scan the skies, hoping to see a Golden Eagle, or perhaps a Gyrfalcon hunting waterfowl. Fortunately, along this stretch of road there are many spots to pull over. I’m driving relatively slowly as we watch for raptors, and I frequently pull over to let the traffic pass me.  We stop at the Dry Falls overlook before heading into Coulee City and going south on Pinto Ridge Road. 

Our route takes us east from Pinto Ridge Road to the area south of Hartline. The map will show how the route winds around and ends up in Hartline at the end of the drive. Considering this is the beginning of winter season, we are happy with what we have seen today.  This includes:


Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 10
American Kestrel (AMKE) 8
Northern Harrier (NOHA) 1
Bald Eagle-Adult (BAEA-A) 2
Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) 7
Great-horned Owl (GHOW) 1

Whimbrels – a migration story

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This article was submitted by Merry Roy, NCWAS board member

Whimbrels, one of the seven curlew species remaining in the world, fly from their wintering grounds in coastal South America, up to their Arctic breeding grounds.  On their way north the Atlantic flyway Whimbrels congregate for a month along the Carolina and Georgia coast, feeding on crabs in the tidal marshes, readying for the last leg of their journey.  They forage in the day and roost on a few sandbars at night, protected from predators.  The largest roosting area is Deveaux Bank at the mouth of a river in South Carolina.  One-half of the Atlantic flyway population of Whimbrels (one-quarter of all the Whimbrels in North America) roost on this sandbar.

This species has declined by 50% since 1994 and the decline continues.  While astounding numbers of Whimbrel roost on Deveaux Bank, a state bird sanctuary and Important Bird Area, there are few other nocturnal roosting sandbars for these birds.  Fall migration back to South America takes them along Hurricane Alley, creating other stresses.  Birds detour storms, often stopping to recover on islands in the Caribbean.  The French-controlled islands of Martinique and Guadalupe allow the hunting of shorebirds and even advertise “destination hunts”.

Protection of safe roosting sandbars, the proposed creation of new islands for nocturnal roosts, and the reduction of shorebird hunting are all positive actions to slow the Whimbrel population declines, but there is another threat. That’s us.  Researchers fear that birders and photographers traveling to view the amazing nocturnal numbers of Whimbrels on Deveaux will flush the birds.  And there are few other safe places for them to go in the middle of the night. 

For more information about Whimbrels, please see “A Miracle of Abundance: 20,000 Whimbrel take Refuge on a Tiny Island” by Scott Weidensaul, Cornell Lab.

A very compelling movie about Wimbrels on Deveaux Bank, South Carolina is avalilable on YouTube. Watch the movie (9:26).

Winter Raptor Survey – East Cascades Audubon Society requests help

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The following email was forwarded to me with a request to post it here so people who may be available and interested to help will know of the need.  If this appeals to you please contact Jeff Fleischer directly.  Thanks.

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to inform interested folks about an opportunity to engage this winter in some meaningful citizen science survey work, mainly, to conduct raptor surveys for the East Cascades Audubon Society’s Winter Raptor Survey Project on routes throughout Washington and a small section of NE Oregon and western Idaho.  I am hoping that some of you will find this sort of effort interesting and want to get involved with the surveys this winter in your area 🙂

Specifically, here are the routes that are available (length in miles listed), they all have been surveyed in the past and I am hoping that we can continue collecting data on them :

LaCenter                              67 miles

Raymond – Holcomb            54

Winlock                                59

Castle Rock.                        53       

Moses Lake East                 60

Othello East                         73

Pullman SW                         64

Steptoe – Saint John.           82

LaCrosse                             74

Moscow North (ID)              87

Moscow South (ID)             59

Hermiston West (OR)         45

Pendleton (OR)                  98

Helix South (OR)                55

In addition, there are new routes available that have been created for our continuing expansion efforts in Washington.  They include:

Lakewood                            62

Sedro Woolley East             54

Sedro Woolley West            52

Sedro Woolley North           72

Coulee City                          83

Warden                                67

White Swan West                52

White Swan East                 73

Wapato                                67

Toppenish West                   79

Toppenish East                    54

Sunnyside North                  89

Sunnyside South                 43

Benton City NW                   69

Prosser North                      61

Prosser South                      92

Prosser West                       91

Grandview                           32

Tyler West                           79

For this project we ask our volunteers to commit to doing one survey each month for December, January and February.  Surveys can be conducted on a day of your choosing to fit with your own life schedule each month, hopefully you also have flexibility to conduct them when weather is not too crazy! :).  The months of November and March are also available but they are optional for this project, about 60% of all routes do get surveyed during November.   You should have confidence in your raptor ID skills, especially for Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Northern Harriers, Bald Eagles, and Rough-legged Hawks which combined account for around 92% of all birds counted in this project.  A pair of binoculars is a must to be able to see birds at a distance and if you happen to have a spotting scope those are very much encouraged. Some of these routes will necessitate  4WD or all wheel drive so that should be taken into consideration when you choose.  You should also bring a desire to thoroughly cover and search all available good raptor habitat, rushing through a survey just to get it done will invariably lead to missed birds.  

If this sounds like an activity that you would like to participate in this winter, you will be joining a group of 350 plus volunteers who last winter covered 452 routes covering more than 25,000 miles of transects each month throughout OR, ID, WA, and small parts of northern CA and UT and your assistance will be most welcome! :).  Please let me know which route you wish to take on (you might include a second and third choice if your first choice has been assigned), these will be filled on a first come first served basis.   I will provide you with the necessary information right away to get you prepared for what you will be doing.  It is a very active citizen science project that gives you an opportunity to engage with this wonderful family of birds and offering your help in helping us all to better understand their life histories :).  Hope to hear from some of you soon, thank you! 🙂

Jeff Fleischer
Project Coordinator
Winter Raptor Survey Project
East Cascades Audubon Society – Bend, OR  (project sponsor)

Methow Valley Bird Banding 2021 – End of Year Report

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The 2021 MAPS banding season came to an abrupt end shortly after the July 15th banding session. Two wildfires in the area, Cedar Creek and Cub Creek 2, were growing in size and producing a lot of unhealthy smoke. Given the uncertainty of the situation, I made the difficult decision to cancel the last two banding sessions and dismantle the station. Thankfully the Cedar Creek Fire never reached the MAPS station. The firefighters have done an amazing job protecting structures and containing both fires. The map below shows the boundaries of the Cedar Creek and Cub Creek 2 fires in relation to the banding station as of August 11th.

Cedar Creek and Cub Creek 2 Fires, 11 August 2021. Map by Southwest Area Incident Management Team 2.

Most juvenile birds are captured during the last two MAPS sessions near the end of the breeding season. Identifying juveniles can be tricky, because many species look much different as juveniles than adults. Since we missed out on seeing a lot of juveniles this year, I thought I’d share a few pictures to illustrate some of the differences. (The juvenile descriptions are from Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part 1 by Peter Pyle https://www.birdpop.org/pages/moltAndPlumage.php.)

A juvenile Spotted Towhee has buffy-brown, streaked body plumage and a grayish-brown iris. The iris will gradually become red as the bird matures. Photos by Julie Hovis.
The Red-eyed Vireo is another species that has a grayish-brown iris as a juvenile. Photos by Julie Hovis.
Juvenile American Redstarts have brownish upperparts, grayish underparts, and two yellowish wing bars. Male American Redstarts do not obtain their distinctive black and orange plumage until they are two years old. Photos by Julie Hovis.
Juvenile Song Sparrows are drabber and buffier than adults with diffuse streaking on the face and underparts. They also have less distinctive facial and crown stripes and lack the rusty tones to the crown and back. Photos by Julie Hovis.

For reasons that are not easily explained, fewer birds were captured in 2021 than in previous years. At the end of the fifth (and final) banding session, we only had captured 61 birds. Even if the last two sessions had been conducted, it would have been almost impossible to reach the numbers captured in 2019 or 2020. Perhaps the low numbers are related to the die-off that happened in the southwestern U.S. last year during fall migration (https://www.audubon.org/news/study-starvation-and-freak-snow-storm-caused-southwests-mass-bird-die). It will be interesting to see how many birds find their way into the nets next season.

Methow Valley MAPS Banding Station Results, 2019-2021. Recaptured Previously Banded (R) includes same day recaptures, same year recaptures, and recaptures of birds banded in previous years. Unbanded (U) includes birds that escaped before they were banded and hummingbirds (which I am not authorized to band). Brown-headed Cowbird was the only new species captured in 2021.

Methow Valley Bird Banding Update – 12 July 2021

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Beginner Bird Banding Class, June 2021. Photo by Jackie Hovis.

The 2021 Methow Valley banding season has been very busy.  It started in early June when I hosted a five-day beginner bird banding class.  The class was supported by NCWAS and taught by Danielle Kaschube.  Danielle works for the Institute for Bird Populations and coordinates their MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) banding program.  (You can learn more about the MAPS program by visiting the Institute for Bird Populations’ web site.)

Morning banding session. Photo by Julie Hovis

The class was fast-paced and covered a lot of material, which made for some very long days! Starting at sunrise the students spent several hours mist netting and banding captured birds. Skills taught during the morning banding sessions included the operation of mist nets and safe extraction of birds, bird-handling skills, and in-hand ageing and sexing techniques. In the afternoon they attended classroom lectures where the topics of banding ethics, the permitting process, and avian plumages and molt strategies were discussed. By all accounts the class was a success.  Everyone (including me!) learned a lot, and the students have been applying what they learned by volunteering at my MAPS station.

Learning to band and process birds. Photo by Julie Hovis.

To date, four of the seven required MAPS sessions have been completed and 54 birds representing 21 different species have been captured.  One of the goals of the MAPS program is to determine survival rates, so it is both exciting and informative when we recapture a bird that was banded in a previous year. So far this year we have recaptured five birds originally banded in 2019 (the year the station was started): one Warbling Vireo, two Swainson’s Thrush, one MacGillivray’s Warbler, and one Yellow Warbler.

Swainson’s Thrush photo by Jackie Hovis. All other photos by Julie Hovis.

All of these birds are Neotropical migrants. I can’t say exactly where they migrated to each winter, but range maps and e-Bird records show their nonbreeding ranges include Central America. Hypothetically speaking, if they migrated as far south as Costa Rica, these birds have made the one-way trip of ±3,600 miles between their winter and breeding grounds at least five times. That is beyond amazing!

June 2021 Big Count results

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Below is a brief note that Joe Veverka sent to the leaders of the individual teams that participated in the 2021 Big Day Bird Count in our four-county area. Thanks for compiling all the data Joe.

Thanks for participating in the NCWAS Annual Big Count!  Despite incredible wind speeds we found a lot of birds.  I only birded until about 2pm vs my 10pm end time on the previous Big Count.  Attached is the complete species list of the count.  We identified and counted a total of 8972 birds of 172 species in our 4-County area and submitted a total of 127 complete checklists!  Okanogan Co. found 152 species captured with 52 checklists followed by Chelan Co. with 136 species and 53 checklists.  Douglas Co. was a distant 3rd counting 103 species and submitting 22 checklists.  Ferry Co……0 species and 0 checklists.  I predict in 2022 Ferry Co will win most improved! 

 

I hope you will join us again next year as we evolve and refine “The Big Count”!

Thanks! and Happy Birding!

Joe

You can see the composite species list by clicking here. Looks like a great day filled with a wonderful variety of birds.

5 Legislative Successes

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2021 was a big year for state-level conservation and climate policy. Thanks to the support of Audubon Washington and Local Audubon Chapters across the state, the bills listed below are now law.

  • Clean Fuel Standard (HB 1091)
  • Cap and Invest program (SB 5126)
  • HEAL Act (SB 5141)
  • Updating Washington’s shoreline armoring policy (SB 5273)
  • Funding for post-fire sagebrush recovery, smart solar siting in the Columbia Plateau, and a near record-setting state conservation budget 

How did we do it in a pandemic while everyone is working from home? Audubon’s statewide network wrote to key legislators, signed and shared Action Alerts, and met with legislators to support these policies.    While seeing the above bills enacted into law was a huge lift that Audubon members can and should be proud of, we must continue our work to advance the ball for the environment.  Bottom line, what’s good for the environment is good for birds.  So our work is not done, in fact we never will be, and NCWAS will remain involved.

submitted by Mark Johnston 060121

Building the nest

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Anna’s Hummingbirds over-winter in the Wenatchee valley. Can you imagine the hardiness of a bird that weighs just 3-6 grams (0.1-0.2 oz.) that needs to contend with temperatures in the teens and 45 miles per hour winds? They are determined to survive until spring so they can begin to build a nest to raise their young.

Female Anna’s pick the nesting spot and build their tiny nest (1 inch tall and 1.5 inches in diameter). Over the period of a week, she gathers plant down from a variety of plants and weaves in spider webs for strength and stability. The bird brings in the material and positions it with its beak and then packs the material with its feet and forms the nest around herself with a series of vibrating movements. Quick sweeps of a wing keep the outside of the nest solid and shaped.

Friends alerted me to this nest in their yard and gave me access. This short video will be the first of several as I document this nest and, with fervent hope, the hatching of young.

The video is hosted on the NCWAS YouTube channel here. You can watch the video in 4K or HD with a simple selection in the Settings. I highly recommend at least 1080.

Enjoy the show!