The 117th CBC in Wisconsin

There are a variety of reasons that the 1547 field counters and 633 feeder watchers offer for why they love the Christmas Bird Count.  Many want to experience the joy of seeing delicate and colorful creatures set against the stark gray and white beauty of a northern winter.  Some enjoy the physical challenge of struggling against the cold, wind and wet to find birds.  There is the competitive set who search for the rare sighting to report proudly at the post count gathering.  Socializing with other bird lovers is certainly motivating to many people.  Not least is the opportunity to contribute to a scientific activity that provides valuable information that aids scientists in their study of population trends and guides conservation efforts. 

The expansion of southern species into Wisconsin, evidence of climate change, has been substantiated by CBC data.  The resurgence of birds threatened in the mid-20^th century is captured in the data gathered by Wisconsin's counters.  Baraboo compilers Ann and Scott Swengel said recently, “We really appreciate the vast effort by Wisconsin birders put into gathering and publishing CBC data. The logistics of this boggles my mind.  We've been inspired to look at possible patterns in the long-term Eastern Screech-Owl and Long-eared Owl declines across the state. Wonderfully enough, we've got a complete statewide dataset from 1985 to 2015 for owling hours and count totals of the five main forest owl species.  Thanks to everyone involved for such volunteer dedication and invaluable data.”

Studies that have depended on CBC data include Sandhill Cranes, Gray Jays, Short-eared Owls, Red-tailed Hawks, and Blue Jays.  You may never know what future use can and will be made of data collected now.  A representative list of scientific papers and books that used Wisconsin CBC data is in the bibliography at the end of this article, compiled by Scott Swengel.

This season 105 of 111 active CBCs were conducted.  Three were cancelled due to blizzard conditions.  Counts were made in Retreat, Platteville, and Wisconsin Rapids but the data was not reported.

In general, typical winter conditions prevailed across the state with temperatures ranging from a low of -22 in Fifield to a high of 44 in Rosendale but most counts (84) were conducted in below freezing conditions. Most waters were frozen; only on three counts were ponds and lakes open and on only 16 were rivers and streams open. Conditions for observation were mostly good, 74 counts had no precipitation. However there was one event that was very impactful, the blizzard of December 17. Fennimore, Brussels, and Sturgeon Bay counts were thwarted entirely and could not be rescheduled.  Other counts were rescheduled but with fewer participants.  Many counters soldiered on that day but the conditions suppressed both observers and bird numbers.

Here’s a test on how well you know the distribution of winter birds.  Before looking at Tables 1 and 2, ask yourself: what are the most widespread species and what are the most abundant species?  You'll be surprised that the answers to these questions are quite different.

Ducks, Geese and Swans

Typically the highest counts of species are highlighted in this report.  Which Count saw the most Bufflehead?  For which species were historical high or low counts recorded?  There is another way to view the data that provides a different and more clear perspective on the results. That is by looking at the number of a species seen compared to the amount of effort applied.  For example, take the American Black Duck of which 372 were counted this season.  That is not an all-time low count; fewer were seen in the 1940s and 1950s.  However there are about five times more people out looking today than there were 60 years ago.  Instead, by examining the count per effort hour, we see that the 372 American Black Duck reported is the lowest number per effort hour in history. More people are looking but are finding fewer for their effort. This is an important difference.  On individual counts there may be local conditions that will swing the numbers year to year. Seen over the whole state though it may be indicative of a longer term and widespread trend leading to question why there are fewer of this species than were once in Wisconsin?

Another example is the Mallard, which is commonly seen (85 of 105 counts).  While apparently common, the number of Mallards per effort hour is quite low, 5.4, compared to counts of the last 60 years. There are only a handful of count years that are lower.  On the other hand, Common Merganser and Greater Scaup are doing relatively well with recent counts per hour at historically above average levels. 

Madison with its many lakes and stream had the highest diversity and numbers of ducks and geese.  State high totals of Canada Goose, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Gadwall, Tundra Swan, Ring-necked Duck, Canvasback, and Green-winged Teal were in Madison. Surprisingly the only two Surf Scoters anywhere in the state were in Madison, likewise the only Northern Shovelers with an astounding 678.  Other hot spots were Lake Geneva (highest counts of Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck), Milwaukee (Redhead, Greater Scaup, Black Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Mallard), Racine (Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck, Am. Wigeon) and Cooksville (Pintail, Am. Wigeon, Greater White-fronted Goose).  Only two Long-tails were seen this year, both in Racine, an unusual low count although in recent years aerial surveys have discovered thousands of them wintering far offshore on Lake Michigan. Green Bay saw 3041 Common Merganser and 30 American Black Duck, both state highs. Kickapoo Valley had 19 Wood Ducks and Kewaunee the most Snow Goose.  Harlequin Duck was found in Appleton and Kewaunee and White-winged Scoter La Crosse.  Kewaukee recorded the only Cackling Goose. Finally a shout out to Pensaukee where there were 482 Trumpeter Swans.

Galliformes

Ruffed Grouse was seen on 36 counts with the most in Fifield (18).  Poynette lead in Ring-necked Pheasant (50), Washington Island in Northern Bobwhite (14), and Arpin as usual had the only Greater Prairie-Chicken. There were no Sharp-tailed Grouse found, not even in reliable Gilman. Wild Turkey is now one of the most abundant and widespread birds in Wisconsin ranking 10^th in number of counts recording it (101) and 14^th in total individuals.

Hawks and Falcons

This year Rough-legged Hawks were very widespread, seen in 85 counts and in the highest number in Cedar Grove (24).  If there is a hot-spot for raptors it has to be Sauk City where there were the highest counts of Bald Eagle (123), Sharp-shinned Hawks (8), American Kestrel (25), and Red-shouldered Hawk (3).  They also had the second highest total of Red-tailed Hawks after Mount Horeb's 91.  Unlike during the mild 2015 CBC, only a lone Turkey Vulture was seen, in Palmyra.  Golden Eagle held steady with last year's total of 30 with Nelson being the best place to find them (7).

Loons and Grebes

In contrast to last year's impressive numbers of loons and grebes, this season was scanty.  Statewide there was only one Common Loon (Madison), one Horned Grebe (Madison), one Red-throated Loon (Kewaunee), one Red-necked Grebe (Herbster), and seven Pied-billed Grebe (4, Lake Geneva, 3 Madison).

Rails and Cranes

Virginia Rail like last year was only seen on two counts, Poynette (5) and Palmyra (2).  Coots were back to normal level, 3540, nearly half of them were at Lake Geneva.  Sandhill Cranes of which there were over 13,000 in state in December 2015 were hard to find this time, 28 statewide and 20 of those in Sauk City.

Herons, Pelican, and Cormorant

As in the past Green Bay had the only American White Pelicans (7) and 24 of the 34 Double-crested Cormorants.  Green Bay and Milwaukee split the two Black-crowned Night-Herons.  With so little open water it seems contradictory for the Great Blue Heron to have a record-setting season; 57 is the highest number even seen in Wisconsin CBC history, beating the 2001 record of 50.  Cooksville had the most with six.

Shorebirds

Two years in a row now no one reported a Killdeer, the first time this has happened. Nine Wilson’s Snipe were seen across seven counts with Blanchardville finding three.

Gulls

The best sighting in this family was a count week Black-legged Kittiwake at the mouth of the Fox River in Green Bay. Counts with Lake Michigan footage naturally had the most gulls although nearby Appleton is also a gull haven.  High counts were Great Black-backed Gull (Kewaunee 12), Glaucous Gull (Appleton 6), Herring Gull (Milwaukee 2217), Ring-billed Gull (Newberg 228), Lesser Black-backed Gull (Milwaukee 1, Racine 1).  Thayer’s Gull was recently lumped with Iceland Gull by the AOU so next year these species will be merged but in the last year of their independence three Thayer’s were found in Superior and one Iceland Gull in each of Green Bay, Racine, and Superior.  What could top a Laughing Gull in Appleton; perhaps a Parasitic Jaeger in Bayfield.

Doves

Eurasian Collared-Dove set the record in 2015 at 98 and now topped it again at 100.  Poynette had over a third of them.  Mourning Dove continues its 30 year rise. Madison led the way with 883. 

Owls

The five year streak of Snowy Owl incursions into Wisconsin ended. Apparently lemming populations were strong in Canada, or not.  One hypothesis is that when food is scarce in the arctic the Snowies have to move south to survive.  An alternate possibility is that when lemmings are plentiful, Snowies raise large families and the younger ones move south to avoid competition for winter hunting grounds. Only five individuals were found, all of them in Superior. 

Six other owl species were found in Wisconsin and only Poynette can claim the distinction of recording all of them.  The most Barred Owl were seen in La Crosse (10), Great-Horned Owl in Blanchardville (20), Long-eared Owl in Cassville (2), Short-eared Owl in Oshkosh (3) and Northern Saw-whet Owl in Baraboo (2).  Eastern Screech-Owl numbers were way down last year, and followed by an even lower total of 77 this year.  Over these past two years there is a 50-70% drop from the steady numbers of the 1980s to 2010s. Green Bay had a fifth of the state's total with 20.

Kingfisher

As long as there is open water, running or still, there are always a few Belted Kingfishers hanging around into December.  This year 41 counts had one or two kingfishers, most in Madison with eight.

Hummingbird

Last year Newberg had an Anna’s Hummingbird, this year one was seen in Milwaukee.  There is something interesting going on with Anna's, a primarily west coast species that disperses in small numbers to the east while our local breeder Ruby-throated has been seen in Wisconsin in winter only once, in 1980. Most Ruby-throated Hummingbirds winter between southern Mexico and northern Panama. They are not adapted to cold weather. However the Anna's is more cold tolerant and migrate to lower elevations and sometimes to the east rather than travel south. See more at http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html .

Woodpeckers

More woodpeckers were found on the Madison CBC than anywhere in the state. Madison had the highest counts of Hairy (108), Downy (303), Red-bellied (174), and Northern Flicker (14).  This doesn't mean that Madison has the largest population of woodpeckers.  Madison has double the number of counters (106) and field hours (227) than the next closest areas, La Crosse (48/115) and Baraboo (42/100) which actually had more woodpeckers per field hour than Madison. The next most common species is Pileated Woodpecker which was seen on 81 counts led by La Crosse with 23.  Sightings of Red-headed Woodpecker were very low, only 23 statewide, four in Kickapoo Valley.  Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (8) were also well below the long-term average.  Black-backed Woodpecker went undetected.

Shrike

Only 96 Northern Shrikes represents the low point of the last 30 years, continuing the sharp decline of the last two years. Medford claimed the high count with seven.

Corvids

Blue Jay was seen on all 105 counts, one of only six species with that distinction.  They really turned out for Bridgeport with 340.  Armstrong Creek had the single Gray Jay in the state. Gray Jays have been in decline as their habitat shrinks due to global warming.  “Gray Jays are now suffering population declines and a shrinking range as global warming heats up the natural ‘refrigerator’ that once kept their perishable food fresh…” when breeding season starts in February (https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Birds/Archives/2011/Gray-Jays.aspx ).

Ravens on the other hand, which also breed in late winter, are doing fine perhaps because they have a more diverse diet. Gurney's 153 was the high count.  American Crow are the fourth most observed species on CBCs and certainty common but that ranking is probably inflated by the ease of finding them.  Baraboo had 902. 

Larks

Horned Larks rebounded from a low count last year. This may not indicate a change in population rather harsher weather forcing them to roadsides where they are more easily seen.   Cedar Grove counted 466.

Chickadees and Nuthatches

Madison had 1206 Black-capped Chickadee of the 24,276 total.  Baraboo found one tenth (108) of all the Tufted Titmouse (1093) which is another record. There's no sign of the increase abating so expect another record next year.  No Boreal Chickadees were reported.  Apparently for the first time Great Tit was observed on a CBC in Wisconsin, one in Fond du Lac and one in Sheboygan.  The Fond du Lac bird is especially intriguing since it is well inland from the Lake Michigan coastline where most sightings occur of this exotic species.

Only 971 Red-breasted Nuthatch were seen, 30% below the ten-year average. Superior found the most at 171.  White-breasted Nuthatch was one of those few seen in every count, Madison recording 338.

Wrens

Five of the state's Winter Wrens were found in Mount Horeb.  The 13 Carolina Wrens is right on the ten year average (Cassville had 4).

Flycatchers

As last year the only flycatcher found was an Eastern Phoebe, this time in Baraboo.

Kinglets

The 86 Golden-crowned Kinglets represents a low point more than 50% down from the 10-year average.  The lone and rare-in-winter Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen during count week in Waukesha.

Thrushes

Eastern Bluebird (247) held steady and once again Sauk City found the most (62).  La Crosse found one sixth (416) of the state's American Robins.  Baraboo didn't get Townsends Solitaire on the count day but did record them during count week, as usual at Devil's Lake.  Burlington was rewarded with the most Hermit Thrushes (4).  Bayfield had a Varied Thrush during count week.

Mimids

Madison found the only Gray Catbird and added one of three Brown Thrasher; the others were in Randolph and Stevens Point.

Waxwings

As expected all five counts with Bohemian Waxwing were across the northernmost counties: Manitowish Waters (37), Ashland (23), Clam Lake (23), Bayfield (1), and Superior (1).  Cedar Waxwings were plentiful with the most in Madison (537) followed by Baraboo (381), Milwaukee (297), and Manitowoc (293).

Longspurs and Bunting

The high Arctic tundra breeding Snow Bunting remained, as in the previous two years, at a historically low level, about 50% below the ten-year average.  Fond du Lac's 749 was the highest count.  Lapland Longspur also remains in a three year dip; Cedar Grove saw 182.

Warblers and Vireos

A Yellow-rumped Warbler was reported from Cassville and in Madison a Pine Warbler was photographed. That Pine Warbler was only the fifth seen in Wisconsin CBC history.

Tanagers, Grosbeak and Cardinal

A count week Summer Tanager was coming to a suet feeder in Madison on December 11.  Northern Cardinal was everywhere except for seven north woods counts. La Crosse had 611 and also the only Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Sparrows and Towhee

Twelve species of sparrows and towhees were seen this season, typical for Wisconsin.  Refer to the table for details on high counts.  The second most abundant bird in the state this year is Dark-eyed Junco behind only the Eurasian Starling.  This is an astounding number of juncos, 64,641, that at first was unbelievable.  First check the data for error; did a compiler put an extra couple of zeroes after their entry, nope. Then, look at the pattern across all of the counts.  Unusually large numbers in many CBCs, not just a few. This is not data error.  This is the most juncos ever seen nearly doubling the previous high in 2009 of 35,195. To quote Vince Lombardi, “What's going on out there?”

Blackbirds

After a three year absence, a Brewer's Blackbird was found in Brodhead.  Only three Rusty Blackbirds, a species in decline throughout the country, were found in Sheboygan, Lake Geneva, and Gilman.  Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds were here in normal numbers and La Crosse (38) and Palmyra (121) had the most respectively.  Fort Atkinson counted 88 or the 110 Common Grackles. Monroe recorded the only Eastern Meadowlarks and the one Western Meadowlark was spotted in Cedar Grove.

Finches

Evening Grosbeak as usual was seen in small numbers in the north, the highest count coming from Armstrong Creek (109). Florence, Medford, Lakewood, Phelps, and Rhinelander also recorded them.  Nearly half of the 49 Pine Grosbeaks were in Summit Lake. Of the 915 Common Redpolls 557 were in Clam Lake where the most White-winged Crossbills (147) were also seen. Nearby Three Lakes was the only other sighting.  Red Crossbills were seen in four northern counts, especially in Manitowish Waters.  Both Crossbills are at below average numbers in recent years and have been restricted to the far north. Purple Finches rebounded a bit, the total of 1371 was the second highest in the last ten years (Summit Lake 136). Only 354 Pine Siskins marked the second lowest total in the past 15 years. Fifield boosted the total with 77.  American Goldfinch held at a steady level just below the 10 year average (Randolph 1175). And for the third time European Goldfinch was seen on a CBC, but uniquely in two locations. One was seen at a feeder in Racine and another in Palmyra.  Lastly, for the first time ever Eurasian Tree Sparrow has been recorded on a CBC when two were seen in the Beloit count.

Bibliography

Root, T.L. 1988. Atlas of Wintering North American Birds: An Analysis of Christmas Bird Count Data. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

Bock, C.E., and T.L. Root. 1981. Winter abundance patterns of landbirds in the United States and southern Canada. Am. Birds 35:891-897.

Root, T.L. 1988. Environmental factors associated with avian Distributional boundaries. J. Biogeogr. 15:489-505.

Root, T.L., M.A. Holmgren, and R.W. Andrews. 1981. The winter abundance patterns of some songbirds near the 100th meridian of the southern United States. Southwest. Nat. 26:95-100.

Root, T.L., and J.D. Weckstein. 1994. Changes in Distribution patterns of select wintering North American birds from 1901 to 1989. Studies Avian Biol. 15:191-201.

Bielefeldt, J. 1974. Patterns of Blue Jay abundance on Wisconsin Christmas Counts, 1954-1972. Passenger Pigeon 36(3):98-109.

Booms, T.L., G.L. Holroyd, M.A. Gahbauer, H.E. Trefry, D.A. Wiggins, D.W. Holt, J.A. Johnson, S.B. Lewis, M.D. Larson, K.L. Keyes, And S.R. Swengel 2014. Assessing the status and conservation priorities of the Short-eared Owl in North America. Journal of Wildlife Management 78(5):772-778.  Nationwide SEO trend on CBCs, lower left column of page 773.

Lacy, A.E., J.A. Barzen, D.M. Moore, and K.E. Norris 2015. Changes in the number and distribution of Greater Sandhill Cranes in the Eastern Population. Journal of Field Ornithology 86(4):317–325,

Menebroeker, R.C., P. Spaeth Anich, D.H. Ogle, and N.M. Anich 2016. Recent declines of Gray Jays on Christmas Bird Counts in Northern Wisconsin.  Passenger Pigeon 78(2):161-170.

Sauer, J.R., and W.A. Link. 2002. Using Christmas Bird Count data in analysis of population change. Am. Birds 56:10-14. Methods.  Red-tailed Hawks nationwide.

Swengel, Scott R., and Ann B. Swengel. 2013. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) abundance patterns and trends in WSO-sponsored bird reporting programs and other datasets.  Passenger Pigeon 75(1): 5-25.

Johnson, D.H., S.R. Swengel, and A.B. Swengel. 2013. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) occurrence at Buena Vista Grassland, Wisconsin, during 1955-2011. J. Raptor Research 47: 271-281