Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Christmas Bird Count Summary for 2025

The outcomes are in! A complete of 43 Christmas Chicken Depend members (together with workers and volunteers) joined forces on Saturday, December 20, to take part within the 126th annual depend in and round Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.

Between dawn and sundown, 13 groups of two to 4 individuals set out on foot, in autos, on a ship, and in a swamp buggy to doc all the birds they noticed or heard within the Sanctuary in addition to in close by rural areas and neighborhoods inside a 15-mile circle. One staff additionally did a nighttime owl survey.

This annual neighborhood science program takes place from mid-December via early January to supply a snapshot of hen inhabitants traits from Ecuador to the Arctic, and from Guam to Bermuda.

The Corkscrew effort resulted in 12,684 whole birds of 120 species! The entire depend was barely decrease than in previous years, due partly to a scarcity of American Robins and two depend places that we couldn’t entry, however variety was up.

Most quite a few was American Tree Swallow (2,612), adopted by Turkey Vulture (968), Mourning Dove (818), and Cattle Egret (801). Palm Warbler (378), White Ibis (378), Purple-shouldered Hawk (122), and Japanese Phoebe (99) had been seen by all groups, whereas 17 species had been seen by solely a single staff, together with Noticed Sandpiper, Purple-tailed Hawk, and Virginia Rail. A particular sighting this 12 months included the Wilson’s Warbler, which was noticed alongside the boardwalk, the place guests have been seeing it for the previous month.

All in all, the groups lined 378 miles (together with 25 miles on foot and eight miles in a ship) throughout the enjoyable journey, all to guard birds and the locations they want.

Many due to Corkscrew Circle Depend Compiler (and Audubon’s director of public packages) Sally Stein for her work coordinating the depend and summarizing the tallies.