121st CBC Season Highest Tallies for Individuals in Canada

Words by Yousif Attia
Canada CBC Coordinator, Birds Canada
Published December 03, 2021

During the 121st Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in Canada, counts reported 284 species, a decrease of five species from last year. Seven additional species, Common Pochard, Cattle Egret, Barn Swallow, American Redstart, Black-throated Green Warbler, Western Tanager, and Indigo Bunting were recorded only during count week. A yellow-bellied kingbird species (i.e., Western/Tropical/Couch’s), although not identified to species, is still a very rare bird on Canadian CBCs. The count week Common Pochard is new for the all-time Canadian species list, which now sits at 439 species.

Each of Canada’s ten provinces and all three territories recorded at least one species high count during the 121st CBC season. Counts in British Columbia (BC) recorded the most species high counts (153), followed by Ontario (92) and Nova Scotia (42). Victoria, BC, was the circle to achieve the most species high counts (43), followed by Ladner, BC (24), Long Point, ON (13), St. Johns, NL (11), and Toronto, ON (9). Twenty of the high counts during the 121st CBC season represent new all-time Canadian highs (numbers boldfaced). Fifty-two high counts are high counts not only for Canada, but all of North America (numbers italicized). Unestablished exotics and hybrids are excluded from this list.

Snow Goose 54,046 (QC, Otterburn Park); Ross’s Goose 2 (ON, Hamilton; QC, Otterburn Park); Greater White-fronted Goose 22 (BC, Chilliwack); Pink-footed Goose 1 (NL, St. Johns; QC, Otterburn Park); Brant 1081 (BC, Ladner); Cackling Goose 6153 (BC, Chilliwack); Canada Goose 61,700 (SK, Estevan); Mute Swan 775 (ON, Presqu'ile P.P.); Trumpeter Swan 1078 (BC, Chilliwack); Tundra Swan 9347 (ON, Blenheim); Wood Duck 300 (BC, Victoria); Blue-winged Teal 1 (NS, St. Peters); Northern Shoveler 762 (BC, Ladner); Gadwall 820 (ON, Long Point); Eurasian Wigeon 79 (BC, Ladner); American Wigeon 17,228 (BC, Ladner); Mallard 11,635 (BC, Ladner); American Black Duck 1891 (NS, Wolfville); Northern Pintail 4971 (BC, Ladner); Green-winged Teal (Eurasian) 2 (NL, St. Johns); Green-winged Teal (American) 1454 (BC, Ladner); Canvasback 4645 (ON, Long Point); Redhead 19,740 (ON, Long Point); Ring-necked Duck 554 (BC, Duncan); Tufted Duck 52 (NL, St. Johns); Greater Scaup 6791 (BC, Ladner); Lesser Scaup 658 (BC, Duncan); King Eider 3 (ON, Peach Tree; QC, Tadoussac); Common Eider 1541 (NB, Blacks Harbour); Harlequin Duck 420 (BC, Deep Bay); Surf Scoter 2067 (BC, Pender Harbour); White-winged Scoter 6670 (ON, Peach Tree); Black Scoter 2108 (QC, Forillon N.P.); Long-tailed Duck 11,578 (ON, Peach Tree); Bufflehead 1823 (BC, Victoria); Common Goldeneye 5038 (QC, Baie-Missisquoi); Barrow's Goldeneye 1296 (BC, Pender Harbour); Hooded Merganser 488 (BC, Victoria); Common Merganser 2500 (BC, Victoria); Red-breasted Merganser 2488 (ON, Long Point); Ruddy Duck 227 (BC, White Rock-Surrey-Langley).

California Quail 1981 (BC, Penticton); Chukar 24 (BC, Lillooet); Gray Partridge 783 (SK, Regina); Ring-necked Pheasant 152 (NS, Wolfville); Ruffed Grouse 32 (QC, Hudson); Spruce Grouse 6 (NT, Fort Smith); Willow Ptarmigan 22 (NT, Yellowknife); Rock Ptarmigan 5 (NU, Arctic Bay); White-tailed Ptarmigan 1 (BC, Smithers, Whistler); Dusky Grouse 3 (BC, Penticton); Sooty Grouse 2 (BC, Cortes Island); Sharp-tailed Grouse 185 (SK, Harris); Wild Turkey 521 (ON, Dunrobin-Breckenridge, Pakenham-Arnprior); Pied-billed Grebe 66 (BC, Victoria); Horned Grebe 307 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Red-necked Grebe 200 (BC, Comox); Eared Grebe 4 (BC, Cortes Island, Galiano-North Saltspring); Western Grebe 400 (BC, Powell River); Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 5379 (ON, Toronto); Band-tailed Pigeon 11 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Eurasian Collared-Dove 281 (BC, Vernon); Mourning Dove 1356 (ON, Peterborough); Anna's Hummingbird 1331 (BC, Victoria); Rufous Hummingbird 1 (BC, Squamish); Virginia Rail 29 (BC, Nanaimo); Sora 1 (BC, Victoria); Common Gallinule 1 (NL, St. Johns); American Coot 2373 (BC, Kuskanook); Sandhill Crane 5786 (ON, Long Point); Black Oystercatcher 145 (BC, Deep Bay); Black-bellied Plover 984 (BC, Ladner); Killdeer 79 (BC, Victoria); Whimbrel 1 (BC, Deep Bay); Marbled Godwit 9 (BC, White Rock-Surrey-Langley); Black Turnstone 483 (BC, Deep Bay); Surfbird 420 (BC, Nanaimo); Sanderling 685 (BC, Ladner); Dunlin 33,255 (BC, Ladner); Rock Sandpiper 13 (BC, Sunshine Coast); Purple Sandpiper 227 (NL, Cape Race); Western Sandpiper 6 (BC, White Rock-Surrey-Langley); Long-billed Dowitcher 60 (BC, White Rock-Surrey-Langley); American Woodcock 1 (ON, Port Hope-Cobourg, Toronto); Wilson's Snipe 25 (BC, Victoria); Spotted Sandpiper 2 (BC, Victoria); Willet 1 (BC, Ladner; NS, Broad Cove); Greater Yellowlegs 265 (BC, Ladner).

Pomarine Jaeger 26 (NS, Brier Island); Dovekie 389 (NL, Cape Race); Common Murre 1152 (BC, Sooke); Thick-billed Murre 6 (NL, Cape Race); Razorbill 119 (PE, East Point); Black Guillemot 970 (QC, Forillon N.P.); Pigeon Guillemot 136 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Marbled Murrelet 105 (BC, Pender Harbour); Ancient Murrelet 1807 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Cassin’s Auklet 1 (BC, Bamfield); Rhinoceros Auklet 61 (BC, Sooke); Atlantic Puffin 2 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Black-legged Kittiwake 1262 (NB, Brier Island); Bonaparte's Gull 1401 (NS, Antigonish); Black-headed Gull 14 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Little Gull 1 (NS, Pictou Harbour; ON, Long Point); Short-billed Gull 1593 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Ring-billed Gull 1636 (ON, West Elgin); Western Gull 4 (BC, Galiano-North Saltspring); California Gull 1028 (BC, Penticton); Herring Gull 6913 (NS, Wolfville); Iceland Gull 1923 (NL, St. Johns); Iceland Gull (Thayer’s) 1308 (BC, Powell River); Iceland Gull (kumlieni) 638 (NS, The Sydneys); Lesser Black-backed Gull 10 (ON, St. Clair N.W.A.); Slaty-backed Gull 1 (BC, Tlell; ON, Toronto); Glaucous-winged Gull 10,935 (BC, Ladner); Glaucous Gull 381 (NL, St. Johns); Great Black-backed Gull 2510 (QC, Longueuil); Red-throated Loon 43 (ON, Blenheim); Pacific Loon 721 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Common Loon 170 (BC, Comox); Yellow-billed Loon 1 (BC, Kitimat, White Rock-Surrey-Langley); Northern Fulmar 1 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Northern Gannet 94 (NS, Brier Island); Brandt's Cormorant 2327 (BC, Sooke); Double-crested Cormorant 937 (BC, Sooke); Great Cormorant 89 (NS, Brier Island); Pelagic Cormorant 1018 (BC, Victoria); American White Pelican 1 (AB, High River; ON, Long Point); American Bittern 1 (BC, Ladner; NS, Halifax-Dartmouth);Great Blue Heron 260 (BC, Ladner); Great Egret 1 (NS, Cape Sable Island); Green Heron 1 (BC, Abbotsford-Mission); Black-crowned Night-Heron 6 (ON, Toronto).

Black Vulture 1 (ON, Sandbanks; QC, Lascelles); Turkey Vulture 95 (NS, Yarmouth); Osprey 1 (ON, Hanover-Walkerton); Golden Eagle 9 (BC, Penticton); Northern Harrier 126 (BC, Ladner); Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach; ON, Kitchener); Cooper's Hawk 49 (BC, Victoria); Northern Goshawk 5 (BC, Terrace); Bald Eagle 1345 (BC, Ladner); Red-shouldered Hawk 1 (ON, Dunnville, Dunrobin-Breckenridge, Kettle Point, Long Point, Napanee, Orono, Peel-Halton Counties, Sandbanks, Skunk's Misery, Toronto, West Elgin, Woodhouse Township); Broad-winged Hawk 1 (NB, Shediac; NS, Bedford-Sackville, Caledonia, Chezzetcook, Kingston, Yarmouth); Red-tailed Hawk 142 (ON, Peel-Halton Counties); Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's) 1 (BC, Armstrong-Enderby, Lake Country, Oliver-Osoyoos); Rough-legged Hawk 63 (ON, Linwood); Barn Owl 7 (BC, Ladner); Western Screech-Owl 2 (BC, Kelowna); Eastern Screech-Owl 63 (ON, Cambridge); Great Horned Owl 30 (BC, Victoria); Snowy Owl 21 (ON, Linwood); Northern Hawk Owl 3 (BC, Smithers); Northern Pygmy-Owl 9 (BC, Creston Valley, Smithers); Barred Owl 18 (BC, Victoria); Great Gray Owl 15 (AB, Cochrane Wildlife Reserve); Long-eared Owl 9 (ON, Peel-Halton Counties); Short-eared Owl 72 (ON, Amherst Island); Boreal Owl 1 (AB, Devon-Calmar; SK, Love, Torch Valley; YT, Haines Junction); Northern Saw-whet Owl 4 (ON, Amherst Island).

Belted Kingfisher 34 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring, Victoria); Red-headed Woodpecker 2 (ON, Dunrobin-Breckenridge, Frontenac); Red-bellied Woodpecker 159 (ON, London); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3 (ON, Port Hope-Cobourg, West Elgin); Red-breasted Sapsucker 26 (BC, Galiano-North Saltspring); American Three-toed Woodpecker 10 (AB, Banff-Canmore, Jasper); Black-backed Woodpecker 6 (SK, Prince Albert N.P.); Downy Woodpecker 430 (AB, Edmonton); Hairy Woodpecker 191 (MB, Winnipeg); Northern Flicker 600 (BC, Victoria); Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 310 (BC, Kelowna); Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 34 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Pileated Woodpecker 86 (AB, Edmonton); American Kestrel 37 (ON, Peach Tree); Merlin 21 (BC, Victoria); Gyrfalcon 2 (AB, Devon-Calmar); Peregrine Falcon 21 (BC, Ladner); Prairie Falcon 4 (AB, Medicine Hat).

Black Phoebe 1 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Phoebe 4 (ON, Guelph, St. Thomas, West Elgin); Northern Shrike 12 (ON, Dunrobin-Breckenridge); Hutton's Vireo 8 (BC, Galiano-North Saltspring); Blue-headed Vireo 1 (NS, Yarmouth); Canada Jay 74 (ON, Eagle River); Steller's Jay 222 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Blue Jay 1441 (NS, Wolfville); California Scrub-Jay 2 (BC, Ladner); Black-billed Magpie 3447 (AB, Edmonton); Clark's Nutcracker 91 (AB, Banff-Canmore); American Crow 72,000 (QC, St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu); Fish Crow 2 (ON, Peel-Halton Counties); Common Raven 3093 (NT, Yellowknife); Horned Lark 810 (ON, Wallaceburg); Black-capped Chickadee 3691 (AB, Edmonton); Mountain Chickadee 332 (BC, Banff-Canmore); Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2566 (BC, Victoria); Boreal Chickadee 68 (AB, Sheep River); Tufted Titmouse 43 (ON, Kettle Point, Wallaceburg); Bushtit 1293 (BC, Victoria); Red-breasted Nuthatch 769 (BC, Victoria); White-breasted Nuthatch 866 (MB, Winnipeg); Pygmy Nuthatch 333 (BC, Kelowna); Brown Creeper 206 (BC, Victoria); Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth).

Rock Wren 1 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth ); Canyon Wren 15 (BC, Vaseux Lake); House Wren 2 (NB, St. Stephen); Pacific Wren 376 (BC, Victoria); Winter Wren 35 (ON, Toronto); Marsh Wren 45 (BC, Ladner); Carolina Wren 101 (ON, Hamilton); Bewick's Wren 420 (BC, Victoria); American Dipper 25 (BC, Lillooet, Squamish); Golden-crowned Kinglet 832 (BC, Victoria); Ruby-crowned Kinglet 336 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Bluebird 88 (ON, West Elgin); Western Bluebird 243 (BC, Oliver-Osoyoos); Mountain Bluebird 4 (BC, Vaseux Lake); Townsend's Solitaire 53 (BC, Williams Lake); Swainson’s Thrush 1 (AB, Calgary); Hermit Thrush 34 (BC, Victoria); American Robin 6185 (BC, Victoria); Varied Thrush 390 (BC, Victoria); Gray Catbird 6 (ON, Long Point); Brown Thrasher 1 (AB, Lac La Biche; MB, Pinawa-Lac du Bonnet; ON, Pembroke, Peach Tree, Sault Ste. Marie; QC, Georgeville); Northern Mockingbird 21 (ON, Toronto); European Starling 13,692 (BC, Ladner); Bohemian Waxwing 5148 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); Cedar Waxwing 434 (ON, Port Hope-Cobourg); House Sparrow 7077 (MB, Winnipeg); American Pipit 68 (BC, Victoria); Evening Grosbeak 882 (NB, Sackville); Pine Grosbeak 593 (BC, Prince George); Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 12 (BC, Smithers); House Finch 1523 (BC, Victoria); Purple Finch 130 (BC, Victoria); Cassin's Finch 31 (BC, Lillooet); Common Redpoll 4024 (ON, Dunrobin-Breckenridge); Hoary Redpoll 79 (NT, Yellowknife); Red Crossbill 1626 (BC, Victoria); White-winged Crossbill 404 (BC, Smithers); Pine Siskin 9047 (BC, Victoria); Lesser Goldfinch 1 (BC, Kelowna, Penticton); American Goldfinch 1727 (NS, Wolfville).

Lapland Longspur 12 (ON, Pike Bay); Snow Bunting 3488 (ON, Dunrobin-Breckenridge); Spotted Towhee 1232 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Towhee 3 (ON, Long Point); American Tree Sparrow 787 (ON, Wallaceburg); Chipping Sparrow 6 (ON, Long Point); Clay-colored Sparrow 2 (NS, Wolfville); Field Sparrow 23 (ON, Woodhouse Township); Lark Sparrow 1 (NS, Glace Bay); Savannah Sparrow 54 (BC, Victoria); Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) 93 (NS, Sable Island); Fox Sparrow 1740 (BC, Victoria); Song Sparrow 1052 (BC, White Rock-Surrey-Langley); Lincoln's Sparrow 124 (BC, Victoria); Swamp Sparrow 115 (ON, Long Point); White-throated Sparrow 129 (ON, Toronto); Harris's Sparrow 2 (ON, Port Hope-Cobourg); White-crowned Sparrow 595 (BC, Victoria); Golden-crowned Sparrow 1843 (BC, Victoria); Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 2072 (ON, St. Thomas); Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 6101 (BC, Victoria).

Yellow-breasted Chat 3 (NL, St. Johns; NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 (BC, Creston Valley, 100 Mile House, Kelowna; PE, Hillsborough); Eastern Meadowlark 2 (ON, Saugeen Shores); Western Meadowlark 28 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Bullock’s Oriole 1 (BC, Comox; QC, Otterburn Park); Baltimore Oriole 3 (NS, Lunenburg); Red-winged Blackbird 6060 (ON, Long Point); Brown-headed Cowbird 626 (QC, St.-Timothee); Rusty Blackbird 9 (ON, Manitoulin Island); Brewer's Blackbird 1855 (BC, Ladner); Common Grackle 396 (ON, Wallaceburg); Black-and-white Warbler 1 (NL, St. Johns); Tennessee Warbler 1 (NL, St. Johns; NS, Yarmouth); Orange-crowned Warbler 6 (ON, Toronto); Common Yellowthroat 6 (ON, Blenheim); Cape May Warbler 1 (NL, Stephenville); Northern Parula 2 (ON, Peel-Halton Counties); Yellow Warbler 1 (NL, St. Johns); Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 (QC, Beauce Sud); Palm Warbler 3 (NS, Wolfville); Pine Warbler 9 (NS, Bedford-Sackville); Yellow-rumped Warbler 40 (BC, Victoria); Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 62 (NS, Cape Sable Island); Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 4 (BC, Kelowna); Townsend's Warbler 6 (BC, Victoria); Wilson's Warbler 2 (NS, Bedford-Sackville); Northern Cardinal 741 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 (ON, Woodhouse Township); Dickcissel 1 (NB, Cape Sable Island, Wolfville).