2019 Cleveland Christmas Bird Count Results
by Andy Jones
by Andy Jones
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History Cleveland Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was conducted on Saturday, December 21st, 2019. The count is sponsored by the Kirtland Bird Club and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The 15 mile diameter circle is located on the east side of Cleveland, including the lakeshore from Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve east to Eastlake, and featuring popular inland birding areas such as Lake View Cemetery, North Chagrin Reservation, and Shaker Lakes.
For this year's count, observers were afield for day that was unseasonably warm; a cloudy morning gave way to blue skies and a high around 50°F. Ponds were frozen but Lake Erie and large rivers were ice free. There were a few inches of snow on the ground. The Cleveland CBC has averaged around 76 species per year for the last half-century; this year, observers found 79 species plus an additional 5 "count week" birds. We NEARLY broke the record! The highest counts for this circle were in the late 1970s, when two counts hit 86 species. This year's 84 species total is the highest in 41 years, and the third highest in the history of the count.
What is a "count week" bird? Any species seen within the circle up to three days before or after the actual count is allowed to be included in the overall species total. This year we had five such species. In a typical year, we have zero or one count week species. The count week birds reported this year were Canvasback, Barn Owl, Harlequin Duck, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow. This was the second CBC record for Barn Owl, the second Lincoln's Sparrow record, and the third Harlequin Duck record. All five species came from the heavily birded Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve. The Barn Owl had been present for most of December, but was unfortunately not spotted during the count itself. This site stays warmer than the rest of the Cleveland region thanks to the temperature influence from Lake Erie, and has been a consistent spot for so-called "half-hardy" wintering birds for many years (recent years have included December sightings of Eastern Phoebe, LeConte's Sparrow, etc.).
Many observers commented to me that they had lower overall numbers than usual, so I looked into the history of total individuals reported on the count. Indeed, this was the lowest number of individuals in decades, with just 6,549 individual birds counted. The December 2011, 2014, and 2018 totals were also below 10,000 birds. But the total individuals varies wildly from year to year depending on the presence of European Starling roosts (over 60,000 in 1986!) and the numbers of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls as well as Redbreasted Mergansers. Scanning through numbers of common songbirds, we were indeed lower overall, but not by large margins.
There were few irruptive species noted this year, with no redpolls reported, a single Pine Siskin, two Redbreasted Nuthatches, and just twenty Cedar Waxwings. A careful check at Cuyahoga County Airport turned up a Wilson's Snipe, just the 15th record for this count. Other goodies included Merlin (5 individuals, tying the high count), Northern Mockingbird (11 individuals, one shy of the record), Common Goldeneye (346 is an impressive total), and Northern Saw-whet Owl (11th record for the count). Woodpeckers have been on the increase in general this past decade; the 19 Red-headed Woodpeckers reported this year ties the record set a few years ago, and the 115 Red-bellied Woodpeckers were 16 shy of the record set two years ago.
The count may have been shy of a record for species, but we did break the record for number of participants! THANK YOU to the incredible eighty-five people who participated this year. I am particularly grateful to Laura Gooch, Mary Huey, and Julie West who organize the large parties that cover the Shaker Lakes and Willoughby areas. Both groups are very welcoming to birders of all skill levels. One of my formative birding experiences as a teenager was joining in a local Christmas Bird Count in Tennessee, and I appreciate everyone who brings new birders afield during the Cleveland CBC. My thanks to Dick and Jean Hoffman for their ongoing curation of the historical data for this count.
For this year's count, observers were afield for day that was unseasonably warm; a cloudy morning gave way to blue skies and a high around 50°F. Ponds were frozen but Lake Erie and large rivers were ice free. There were a few inches of snow on the ground. The Cleveland CBC has averaged around 76 species per year for the last half-century; this year, observers found 79 species plus an additional 5 "count week" birds. We NEARLY broke the record! The highest counts for this circle were in the late 1970s, when two counts hit 86 species. This year's 84 species total is the highest in 41 years, and the third highest in the history of the count.
What is a "count week" bird? Any species seen within the circle up to three days before or after the actual count is allowed to be included in the overall species total. This year we had five such species. In a typical year, we have zero or one count week species. The count week birds reported this year were Canvasback, Barn Owl, Harlequin Duck, Lincoln's Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow. This was the second CBC record for Barn Owl, the second Lincoln's Sparrow record, and the third Harlequin Duck record. All five species came from the heavily birded Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve. The Barn Owl had been present for most of December, but was unfortunately not spotted during the count itself. This site stays warmer than the rest of the Cleveland region thanks to the temperature influence from Lake Erie, and has been a consistent spot for so-called "half-hardy" wintering birds for many years (recent years have included December sightings of Eastern Phoebe, LeConte's Sparrow, etc.).
Many observers commented to me that they had lower overall numbers than usual, so I looked into the history of total individuals reported on the count. Indeed, this was the lowest number of individuals in decades, with just 6,549 individual birds counted. The December 2011, 2014, and 2018 totals were also below 10,000 birds. But the total individuals varies wildly from year to year depending on the presence of European Starling roosts (over 60,000 in 1986!) and the numbers of Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls as well as Redbreasted Mergansers. Scanning through numbers of common songbirds, we were indeed lower overall, but not by large margins.
There were few irruptive species noted this year, with no redpolls reported, a single Pine Siskin, two Redbreasted Nuthatches, and just twenty Cedar Waxwings. A careful check at Cuyahoga County Airport turned up a Wilson's Snipe, just the 15th record for this count. Other goodies included Merlin (5 individuals, tying the high count), Northern Mockingbird (11 individuals, one shy of the record), Common Goldeneye (346 is an impressive total), and Northern Saw-whet Owl (11th record for the count). Woodpeckers have been on the increase in general this past decade; the 19 Red-headed Woodpeckers reported this year ties the record set a few years ago, and the 115 Red-bellied Woodpeckers were 16 shy of the record set two years ago.
The count may have been shy of a record for species, but we did break the record for number of participants! THANK YOU to the incredible eighty-five people who participated this year. I am particularly grateful to Laura Gooch, Mary Huey, and Julie West who organize the large parties that cover the Shaker Lakes and Willoughby areas. Both groups are very welcoming to birders of all skill levels. One of my formative birding experiences as a teenager was joining in a local Christmas Bird Count in Tennessee, and I appreciate everyone who brings new birders afield during the Cleveland CBC. My thanks to Dick and Jean Hoffman for their ongoing curation of the historical data for this count.