113th CBC Québec Regional Summary

By Marcel Darveau

The 113th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) went very well in Quebec. Thirty-seven counts, including the Ottawa-Gatineau count (half in Quebec and half in Ontario), were completed. A new count added this year at Baie-Missisquoi. Two counts inactive last year were restarted but three active last year were not done or did not submit data this year. The most popular count day was December 15^th with 17 counts, followed by December 16^th with seven counts. In total, there were 1189 participants, of which 973 in the field and 216 at feeders. It corresponds to an increase by 184 participants compared to last year, possibly due to the elimination of the $5 participation fee. Ottawa-Gatineau had the most observers (146), followed by Quebec City (112).

A total of 145 species was observed on count day, of which 52 were aquatic species (36 % of all species), 24 were raptors (hawks and owls: 17 %), and 69 were land birds (grouse, woodpecker, and passerine: 47 %).  A total of 309,994 birds was reported, a decrease of 9 % relative to last year. St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu ranked first with 95,119 birds, thanks to the presence of 58,756 American Crows and 22,913 Canada Geese. Granby counters tallied 24,769 birds. Across the province, Quebec City ranked first in number of species (86) trailed by Montreal (76).

Seven species were reported in all counts: Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, and Common Redpoll. Eight species had a total of over 10,000 individual across the province: American Crow (93,331), Canada Goose (45,191), European Starling (20,694), Common Redpoll (17,755), Black-capped Chickadee (15,001), Rock Pigeon (13,051), Mallard (10,479), and Snow Goose (10,127).

If we look at threatened species, three Harlequin Ducks (Magdalen Islands, Montreal, and Ottawa-Gatineau) and 485 Barrow’s Goldeneyes (distributed among 6 counts) are noticeable. The Bald Eagle totaled 89 individuals seen in 26 counts. The Golden Eagle (8 birds) and Peregrine Falcon (14) were reported in three and seven counts, respectively. Four Short-eared Owls (1 in Baie-Missisquoi, 2 in Longueuil, and 1 in Sorel-Tracy), one Red-headed Woodpecker (Québec), and one Rusty Blackbird (Forillon) were also seen.

Regarding Quebec’s rare bird highlights, the following species were observed in one count area only: two Greater White-fronted Goose (St. Timothee), three Green-winged Teals (Beauce-Sud), one Red-throated Loon (Quebec), one Black-crowned Night-Heron (Montreal), one Black Vulture (Magdalen Islands) , two Turkey Vultures (Lennoxville), one Gyrfalcon (Tadoussac), four Sanderlings (Magdalen Islands), 11 Black-headed Gulls (Magdalen Islands), two Common Murres (Magdalen Islands), two Thick-billed Murres (Magdalen Islands), two Razorbills (Perce), one Northern Hawk Owl (Matapedia),one Boreal Owl (Longueuil), one Northern Saw-wet Owl (Longueuil), one American Three-toed Woodpecker (Chute-St-Philippe), 65 American Pipits (Hemmingford), one Clay-colored Sparrow (Forillon), one Savannah Sparrow (Baie-Missisquoi), and one European Goldfinch (introduced species, Lennoxville).

Four years ago, I drew attention to an impressive total of 635 Wild Turkeys distributed in eight Quebec counts. This year, 1806 birds were reported in 18 counts. The Wild Turkey has expanded to the North, pushing back it limit from latitude 45°24’ (Granby) to 46°21’ (Lac-Etchemin). At that rate, one could anticipate that it will occupy the entire St. Lawrence valley within less than 10 years.