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2006 Christmas Bird Count - Oklahoma City West

Editor's Note: The 2006 Oklahoma City Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 16, 2006. More than 50 observers in 17 parties participated in the event and tallied 119 species.

by John Shackford

Low lake levels and a record high temperature of 76 degrees (F) -- 3 degrees higher than ever recorded on this date -- resulted in an excellent count total of 119 species.  But strong winds somewhat tempered our efforts, as many birds tended to hunker down.  Warren Harden mentioned that, contrary to usual expectations, “squeaking” on this day sent most of the birds deeper into the thickets, rather than bringing them out, something that generally had been true for me that day too.

Very remarkable was the number of raptor species we saw, especially the hawks—10 (plus 1 additional subspecies, Harlan’s Hawk) and—during count week—an 11th species, Prairie Falcon.  Outstanding among the hawks on count day were a Northern Goshawk (Terri Underhill and John Shackford) and a Peregrine Falcon (Larry Mays and Nathan Kuhnert, and the Jimmy Woodard party).
A very noteworthy Turkey Vulture (by Woodard party) and 4 species of owls brought our total of raptor species on count day to 15.  An active or recently active winter nest of Barn Owl in Memorial Cemetery was surprising, but not unprecedented.  A couple of weeks before the count I had heard bird squeals in the cemetery bell tower that I thought might be young Barn Owls; a couple days before the count, I saw two Barn Owls there, one that appeared about 2/3 grown with some down still visible; and on count day Ernie Wilson and Dave Evans noted that one of the 2 owls they saw appeared to be a young bird.
 

Other great finds included Little Blue Heron by Pat Velte (photos!, bird possibly injured), California Gull by Larry Mays, and Yellow-headed Blackbird by the Evans-Wilson party.
 

The most negative thing for me this year was the inescapable realization that the remaining native grass fields in the north and northwest part of our circle—our “native fields” area—are just about finished off because of new building.  In the past, we have had, for example, two fields in this area where we could usually depend on Smith’s Longspurs—because these fields had extensive areas of 3-awn (Aristida sp.) grass, the seeds of which were a primary food source for Smith’s Longspurs.  But both of these fields are in the process of being—or soon to be—converted to housing and commercial development (I really cringe at the word “development” in this context).  It is likely that on our count in future years Smith’s Longspurs will be found only very rarely, or worse—remain only as a memory.  So take a long look at the 33 Smith’s Longspurs the Woodard party found this year.
 

Thanks to all for your dedicated participation that—once again—has resulted in an excellent count.

Special thanks to Pat Velte for her remarkable expertise in creating an easy online data entry system—the benefits of which should continue to accrue through the years.

Especially, we thank the Newells for their hospitality as hosts of our always-fun after-count party.


John Shackford, compiler
2006 Oklahoma City Christmas Bird Count
26 February 2007

Click here to view/download CBC territory map

SPECIES TOTAL SPECIES TOTAL
Cackling Goose 6 Eastern Phoebe 5
Canada Goose 3891 Loggerhead Shrike 3
Wood Duck 25 Blue Jay 88
Gadwall 185 American Crow 273
American Wigeon 86 Horned Lark 323
Mallard 1295 Carolina Chickadee 278
Northern Shoveler 84 Tufted Titmouse 58
Northern Pintail 23 White-breasted Nuthatch 4
American Green-winged Teal 98 Brown Creeper 7
Canvasback 61 Carolina Wren 57
Redhead 40 Bewick's Wren 13
Ring-necked Duck 66 House Wren 1
Greater Scaup 7 Winter Wren 4
Lesser Scaup 66 Golden-crowned Kinglet 7
Bufflehead 54 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 24
Common Goldeneye 271 Eastern Bluebird 84
Hooded Merganser 116 Hermit Thrush 3
Common Merganser 381 American Robin 1321
Red-breasted Merganser 208 Northern Mockingbird 105
Ruddy Duck 164 Brown Thrasher 1
Wild Turkey 29 European Starling 9370
Northern Bobwhite 4 American Pipit 76
Common Loon 7 Cedar Waxwing 15
Pied-billed Grebe 71 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 108
Horned Grebe 34 Spotted Towhee 31
American White Pelican 513 Eastern Towhee 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1032 American Tree Sparrow 56
Great Blue Heron (blue form) 92 Field Sparrow 33
Little Blue Heron 1 Savannah Sparrow 74
Great Egret 2 LeConte's Sparrow 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 14 Fox Sparrow 29
Turkey Vulture 1 Song Sparrow 122
Northern Harrier 5 Lincoln Sparrow 7
Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 Swamp Sparrow 6
Cooper's Hawk 13 White-throated Sparrow 60
Northern Goshawk 1 Harris's Sparrow 669
Red-shouldered Hawk 14 White-crowned Sparrow 92
Red-tailed Hawk 82 Dark-eyed Junco 738
Harlan's Hawk 2 Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 2
Ferruginous Hawk 1 Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco 3
American Kestrel 28 Lapland Longspur 11
Merlin 3 Smith's Longspur 33
Prairie Falcon cw longspur species 2
Peregrine Falcon 1 Northern Cardinal 300
American Coot 192 Red-winged Blackbird 1799
Killdeer 20 Eastern Meadowlark 7
Greater Yellowlegs 14 Western Meadowlark 1
Least Sandpiper 36 meadowlark sp. 275
Wilson's Snipe 19 Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Bonaparte's Gull 76 Brewer's Blackbird 1
Ring-billed Gull 7842 Common Grackle 560
California Gull 1 Great-tailed Grackle 4530
Herring Gull 24 Brown-headed Cowbird 161
Rock Pigeon 2936 House Finch 70
Eurasian Collared-Dove 121 American Goldfinch 192
White-winged Dove 8 House Sparrow 757
Mourning Dove 279 Additional subsp. Or forms 3
Barn Owl 4
Eastern Screech-Owl 1 TOTAL COUNT DAY 43696
Great Horned Owl 6
Barred Owl 4 Additional species count week 1
large owl species 2    
Belted Kingfisher 26    
Red-headed Woodpecker 1    
Red-bellied Woodpecker 34    
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5    
Downy Woodpecker 58    
Hairy Woodpecker 7    
Northern Flicker 16    
Northern (Red-shafted Flicker 6    
Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker 19    
Pileated Woodpecker 1    

 

For additional information on the 2065 CBC, contact John Shackford johnsshack@aol.com

View the Christmas Bird Count statistics for 2005.