Saturday I participated in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count at Cantigny Gardens, part of the counting circle for the Dupage Birding Club.
The longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place between December 14, 2009 and January 5, 2010. From Alaska to Antarctica, tens of thousands of volunteers will add a new layer to over a century of bird population information.
Scientists rely on this remarkable trend data to better understand how birds and their environment are faring, and what needs to be done to protect them. Data from Audubon’s signature Citizen Science program are at the heart of numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies.
The weather was not the best. It was cloudy with temperatures in the low 30′s and light snow most of the day. We didn’t see as many birds as we expected with a final count of 519 birds and 25 species. Not one robin was seen and house sparrows were scarce. There were a lot of geese, and no crows.
After I was done counting I spent some time near one of the feeders and took some pictures of a few of the birds:
Northern Cardinal – Male
Northern Cardinal – Female
Female and Male House Finch
Mourning Dove
Song Sparrow
Black-eyed Junco
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Sparrows
List of birds counted:
1. Canada Goose (270)
2. Mallard (16)
3. Red-Tailed Hawk (3)
4. Cooper’s Hawk (1)
5. Ring-Billed Gull (4)
6. Mourning Dove (35)
7. Blue Jay (7)
8. Downy Woodpecker (3)
9. Hairy Woodpecker (1)
10. Red-Bellied Woodpecker (10)
11. Belted Kingfisher (1)
12. Cedar Waxwing (12)
13. Yellow-Rumped Warbler (2)
14. Song Sparrow (3)
15. Dark-Eyed Junco (7)
16. American Tree Sparrow (6)
17. American Goldfinch (18)
18. House Finch (7)
19. Black-Capped Chickadee (38)
20. White-Breasted Nuthatch (12)
21. Brown Creeper (1)
22. Eastern Bluebird (2)
23. Northern Cardinal (8)
24. European Starling (32)
25. House Sparrow (20)
