by John Besser

The annual Columbia Christmas Bird Count was held December 15, 2024. After much concern about the forecast for rain on Saturday, we postponed the count to Sunday but held the Chili Dinner as scheduled, on Saturday evening. The dinner was well-attended (and delicious!) and Sunday brought much better weather for the count. Early morning drizzle gave way to a sunny, mild afternoon, and we had a good turnout and a productive day. Counters submitted 105 eBird checklists, with 92 species and 70,715 total birds. As usual, Area 5 (Eagle Bluffs and Katy Trail) had the highest species count (73) , followed by Areas 3-N  (MU Farms) and Area 6 (City wetlands) with 53 species each. Results are summarized in the attached table. Pictured left is an Eastern Screech Owl by Teresa Dishaw, a frequent  contributor to the CAS Facebook page.

The take-home message from the count seems to be that hardy winter residents were not common, with reduced numbers of swans, geese, and diving ducks. Winter land birds such as Red breasted Nuthatch and Pine Siskin were also present in lower numbers than usual. On the other hand, we found half-hardy species such as Virginia Rail, Sora, and Marsh Wren and rarities such as Harris’s and LeConte’s Sparrow. It was also a good day for owls, with four species reported including a remarkable 43 Great Horned Owls. Our data will be submitted to the National Audubon Society, which maintains a database of more than a century of Christmas Bird counts. Our thanks to all the volunteers, and we hope to see you again next  year!

CBC Organizing Committee: Lottie Bushmann, John Besser, and Allison Vaughn

COLUMBIA MISSOURI CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT, DECEMBER 15, 2024

#	Count	Taxon
1	48	Snow Goose
2	4	Cackling Goose
3	2146	Canada Goose
4	208	Blue-winged Teal
5	588	Northern Shoveler
6	2012	Gadwall
7	6	American Wigeon
8	9360	Mallard
9	293	Northern Pintail
10	6188	Green-winged Teal
11	5	Redhead
12	32	Ring-necked Duck
13	5	Lesser Scaup
14	2	Ruddy Duck
15	6	Northern Bobwhite
16	14	Wild Turkey
17	234	Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
18	3	Eurasian Collared-Dove
19	482	Mourning Dove
20	8	Virginia Rail
21	6	Sora
22	144	American Coot
23	33	Killdeer
24	2	Wilson’s Snipe
25	30	Ring-billed Gull
26	3	Pied-billed Grebe
27	13	Great Blue Heron
28	28	Black Vulture
29	129	Turkey Vulture
30	5	Sharp-shinned Hawk
31	3	Cooper’s Hawk
32	1	Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk
33	12	Northern Harrier
34	36	Bald Eagle
35	44	Red-shouldered Hawk
36	5	Red-shouldered Hawk (lineatus Group)
37	91	Red-tailed Hawk
38	2	Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan’s)
39	1	Red-tailed Hawk (abieticola)
40	5	Red-tailed Hawk (borealis)
41	9	Eastern Screech-Owl
42	43	Great Horned Owl
43	5	Barred Owl
44	1	Short-eared Owl
45	18	Belted Kingfisher
46	20	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
47	93	Red-headed Woodpecker
48	345	Red-bellied Woodpecker
49	218	Downy Woodpecker
50	3	Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)
51	28	Hairy Woodpecker
52	46	Pileated Woodpecker
53	196	Northern Flicker
54	20	Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)
55	25	American Kestrel
56	814	Blue Jay
57	246	American Crow
58	414	Black-capped Chickadee
59	13	Carolina/Black-capped Chickadee
60	306	Tufted Titmouse
61	29	Horned Lark
62	5	Ruby-crowned Kinglet
63	39	Golden-crowned Kinglet
64	146	White-breasted Nuthatch
65	5	Brown Creeper
66	5	Winter Wren
67	1	Marsh Wren
68	277	Carolina Wren
69	2151	European Starling
70	1	Brown Thrasher
71	42	Northern Mockingbird
72	408	Eastern Bluebird
73	4	Hermit Thrush
74	1186	American Robin
75	310	Cedar Waxwing
76	232	House Sparrow
77	200	House Finch
78	42	Purple Finch
79	1	Pine Siskin
80	1210	American Goldfinch
81	3	Field Sparrow
82	131	American Tree Sparrow
83	99	Fox Sparrow
84	1249	Dark-eyed Junco
85	4	Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
86	144	White-crowned Sparrow
87	1	Harris’s Sparrow
88	785	White-throated Sparrow
89	2	LeConte’s Sparrow
90	52	Savannah Sparrow
91	189	Song Sparrow
92	110	Swamp Sparrow
93	4	Eastern Towhee
94	47	Western Meadowlark
95	67	Eastern Meadowlark
96	131	Western/Eastern Meadowlark
97	31167	Red-winged Blackbird
98	126	Brown-headed Cowbird
99	10	Rusty Blackbird
100	2455	Common Grackle
101	1687	blackbird sp.
102	109	Yellow-rumped Warbler
103	2	Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
104	747	Northern Cardinal
TOTALS
	70715	birds
	104	taxa
	92	species