BIRD COUNTS
2023 Christmas Bird Count
On December 16, 2023, 90 birders and 2 feeder watchers counted every bird they could see and hear within the 15-mile circle during the 48th Fermi-Batavia CBC. Eighty-five species were observed in the count, above our 10-year average despite consistent rain. We had high counts for Piliated Woodpecker (3), Merlin (3), and White-throated sparrow (401). Thanks you to all the area captains and counters in making this year another successful count!
DuPage Birders Set Record Participation Rate for 2023 Spring Bird Count
DuPage birders and the DuPage Birding Club have always supported the Spring Bird Count (SBC). DuPage was one of the first counties to participate in the very first Illinois SBC in 1973. We have organized coverage of the County and participated in every count since that date. The 2023 SBC was no exception, and in fact we recorded the highest participation rate ever – 148 birders flocked to count birds in DuPage County on May 6, which set a new record high number of participants over the 5-year history of the SBC. Great Job DuPage Birders!
With the large number of birders in the field, you might think that we were able to find a record number of species as well. But that was not to be the case. All your efforts resulted in finding 171 species and 30,416 birds on this year’s SBC. Those numbers are considerably above the average of 155 species and 21,430 individuals over the 51-year history of the DuPage SBC. We did not challenge the record of 188 species set in 2018, but 171 species is among the higher species counts over the many years of completing the count.
We did not add any new species to the count this year, and nothing exceptionally rare or unusual was reported on this year’s SBC. Among the more interesting birds seen were a Trumpeter Swan at Fermi Lab, a late Golden-crowned Kinglet, two Winter Wrens, and a Whip-poor-will at Hidden Lake. The top five birds reported according to abundance remained the same as last year – Red-winged Blackbird (4934), American Robin (3220), Canada Goose (1276), Yellow-rumped Warbler (1139), and Tree Swallow (1050).
Several species were recorded in record high numbers on the count including Common Merganser (4), Solitary Sandpiper (257), Double-crested Cormorant (405), Great Egret (152), Osprey (24), Pileated Woodpecker (12), American Pipit (10), Brown-headed Cowbird (882), and Northern Cardinal (861).
Please check links in the right column to view the detailed data for this year as well as two tables with historical information – one for the period 1973-2000 and another from 2001 to the present. You can explore the data on your own to look for long-term trends in our DuPage County spring birds.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the Area Captains who do the all work to organize and assure coverage of all the birding areas in the county for the SBC. They are Dave Hodge, Kyle Wiktor, Nancy Allured, Dave Yeager, Mike Kalscheur, Urs Geiser, Eric Secker, Jeff Reiter, Glenn Perricone, Jim Huebler, Peter Kasper, Stephanie Lyons-Olsen and Chuck Olsen, Susan Kaley, Linda Radtke, Joe Suchecki, Mike Madsen, and Jim Green. I very much appreciate all of their efforts and prompt reporting, which makes my job as complier much easier.
Not too early to plan for next year’s count - keep open Saturday May 4 for the 2024 Spring Bird Count.
Joe Suchecki
DuPage SBC Compiler