by John Besser, Nature Areas Committee

The 2023 Columbia Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday December 16. Early birders faced light rain, but temperatures were mild and we persevered to generate a species list of 99 species. This list exceeded totals of 86 and 88 for the previous ‘covid years’ and was the highest tally since 102 species were seen in 2015. We estimate that 64 observers participated in this year’s count, with at least 15 first-time CBCers.
The total number of birds counted was 36868. Area 5 (Eagle Bluffs) had the highest total count (13764) and tied with Area 1S (South Farms, Bradford Farm) for highest species count (63).
Waterfowl seen included Wood Duck and American Black Duck, but few diving ducks. The Columbia wastewater wetlands turned up hardy winter residents, Sora and Virginia Rail, and Capen Park had 7 Black Vultures, a high count for this CBC. Other notable finds included LeConte’s and Lincoln’s Sparrows at Eagle Bluffs, Eurasian Tree Sparrow at South Farms, a Loggerhead Shrike at Bradford Farm, and a Common Redpoll at a feeder.

2023 Columbia CBC—Species and Counts by Area:

AREA	1N	1S	2N	2S	3N	3S	4	5	6	7E	7W	8	TOTALS:
BIRDS	503	2626	2303	2355	2661	1178	1996	13764	3973	2511	1360	1648	36878
TAXA	37	63	42	49	48	45	54	63	60	40	37	34	115
												(NOT SPECIES)	18
												SUBTOTAL SPECIES	97
												COUNT WEEK SPECIES	2
												GRAND TOTAL SPECIES	99

For Full results of the 2023 Christmas Bird Count, see this spreadsheet: CBC 2023 eBird data and tally_rev