Annual Christmas Bird Count at Yosemite

During the 2012 Christmas Bird Count, the teams of birders counted and identified 2,584 birds of 70 species across 6 zones in Yosemite. 

 

Next Yosemite Christmas Bird Count: Dec. 15, 2013 (details below)

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Tens of thousands of volunteers across the Americas join together annually during the Christmas Bird Count. The event provides a full day to celebrate birds. Since 1932, Yosemite's participation has contributed more than 95,000 observations to the conservation event.

What a fun time we had together during the 113th Christmas Bird Count on December 16, 2012 in Yosemite! Despite potentially stormy weather, 41 hearty participants hit the trails with their binoculars and enthusiasm. We had seven groups of people scouring the count circle for birds, including one team clad in snowshoes up in the Badger Pass area, four groups covering the entirety of Yosemite Valley, including one group that also covered the Merced River Canyon; another group that covered Old El Portal and hiked up the Foresta Road; and another group that covered the area centered around Foresta. Thanks to each and every one of you who participated and who contributed to another successful bird count! If you weren't able to participate this year, there's always next year (Sunday, December 15, 2013), and there will always be more birds to see and count. This count has been going strong since 1932, for a total of 73 years!

 

Northern pygmy-owl spotted near Foresta during the 2012 Christmas Bird Count

Forty one participants counted and identified 2,257 individual birds of 63 species across 6 zones in Yosemite, spanning an elevation gradient from about 2,000 ft in El Portal to 7,000 ft. at Badger Pass. This year's cold and inclement weather seemed to push birds out of the higher zones down toward the lower areas where El Portal and Foresta had the most concentrated numbers of birds. El Portal alone tallied 1,160 birds, compared to Badger Pass, which only tallied 62 birds, most of which were mountain chickadees (43 individuals). At the end of the day, everyone converged at the compilation dinner at the Girl's Club in Yosemite Valley to eat lots of delicious food and to tally the final results. Birding highlights included a northern harrier in El Portal; a northern goshawk carrying a large brown animal in its talons near Mirror Lake; 2 peregrine falcons (one in Foresta and the other at the Rostrum in the Merced River Canyon); nine woodpecker species, including two Williamson's sapsuckers ( one in Foresta and one near Mirror Lake); a western meadowlark on the El Portal count; and a rufous-crowned sparrow near Yosemite Lodge (thanks to Ann Simpson's quick-on-the-draw photography skills!). We saw some species that were missed last year, such as Mourning Dove, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and Common Merganser. However, this year, we didn't see Pacific wren, fox sparrow, or any owls.

 

Red-breasted x red-naped sapsucker hybrids were spotted during the 2008 bird count.

Karen Amstutz

To compare with past years, in 2010, 20 participants counted and identified 1,333 birds of 57 species across six zones in Yosemite on 16 December. Highlights included a turkey vulture observed above the rim of the Merced River Canyon, two merlins in Foresta--with one of them in the same viewshed as a Northern pygmy-owl. There was also a Williamson's sapsucker oberved in Foresta, and a California thrasher observed on the Foresta Road above El Portal.

In 2009, 48 participants identified 59 species, including a Williamson's sapsucker along the Old Big Oak Flat Road Trail; an orange-crowned warbler in East Yosemite Valley; three Cassin's finches up on Turtleback Dome; and four wren species (canyon, Bewick's, house and winter), all in El Portal except for the winter wren observed on the Old Big Oak Flat Road Trail. Other species found included the great blue heron, Northern pygmy-owl, white-headed woodpecker, and cedar waxwing.

In 2008, 32 participants identified 65 species, including a northern goshawk in the west end of Yosemite Valley, a merlin in Foresta, a northern mockingbird in El Portal, and two red-breasted x red-naped sapsuckers--in El Portal and Foresta. Nine raptors, including sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, and peregrine falcons, were on the list too. And, more than 500 band-tailed pigeons and American robins plus almost 400 Oregon dark-eyed juncos were spotted.

Some of the historic highlights from Yosemite's Christmas Bird Count include:

• A record 1,100 band-tailed pigeons counted in 1971
• A record 560 mountain chickadees in 1972
• A record 483 golden-crowned kinglets in 1953
• Two rare hooded mergansers spotted in 1940
• Great gray owls observed during five different annual bird counts
  

 

Great gray owl

Joe Medley

The next Yosemite Christmas Bird Count is Dec. 15, 2013. To attend the full-day event, bring binoculars, a field guide, lunch, plenty of warm clothes and sturdy shoes. A small fee typically exists to support the publication of count results in National Audubon Field Note, which will give the highlights of the International Christmas Bird Count. Plan to be outside all day, from around dawn to dusk. An annual compilation potluck dinner closes the day to allow participants to share Yosemite birding highlights. To participate, you must register in advance. Contact the Yosemite Christmas Bird Count Organizer, Sarah Stock, by e-mail or by phone at 209/379-1435.

• For bird counts in your area, contact your local chapter of the National Audubon Society for details.
• Download a complete Yosemite bird checklist in two sizes: 8.5 by 11-inch format (seven pages at 210 kb PDF) or 8.5 by 14-inch format (one page as a tri-fold at 271 kb PDF). If you choose to print the 8.5 by 14-inch legal paper size, you will need to click on "Properties" to select "2 Sided Print, Flip on Short Edge" and scale page to "Shrink to Printable Area."
• E-mail bird sightings, seen any time of year, with location details to a park ornithologist. Or, fill out a Wildlife Observation Card to report sightings. [37.83 kb PDF]

 

Golden-crowned kinglet

A.M. OJEDA

When bird-watching, experienced birders confidently identify birds by just a glimpse. (See illustrations of Yosemite's most common species.) Remember that a bird’s feathers change as an adult molts into its winter plumage. For many species, a male bird’s winter plumage is dull compared to his colorful plumage in the spring when he is interested in attracting a female with whom to mate. Also, note subtle nuances in a bird’s song or call—long trills or short chips. In the winter, birds rarely sing but make call notes to defend a territory, announce the presence of a predator, or to keep up with a mixed-species foraging flock.

 

Yosemite has participated in the Christmas Bird Count since 1932.

Karyn O'Hearn