The 116th CBC in Colorado

A total of 205 species were found on the 48 Colorado CBCs that were held.

Highlights:

Nine Greater White-fronted Geese were found on five counts.  Three Trumpeter Swans were at Longmont and a feral Trumpeter Swan was at Pagosa Springs.  Two Tundra Swans were at Fort Collins and Greeley, and single bird at Boulder.  An unknown swan was found at Delta (count week).  A Mexican Duck was at Pueblo Reservoir.  Very rare in winter, Blue-winged Teal were found with a single bird at Pueblo Reservoir and two at Fort Collins.  The Eagle Valley count found 35 Ring-necked Ducks, their first for that count.  Count Week Lesser Scaup were new for Steamboat Springs.  A total of 43 Greater Scaup were found.  Scoters are always a treat on Colorado CBCs, three White-winged were at Denver, and a White-winged and a Black Scoter were at Rocky Ford (both new for this count).  Long-tailed Ducks were found on three counts, four at Colorado Springs, two at Denver and two at Sterling.  A Bufflehead x Common Goldeneye (hybrid) was at Loveland.   Forty Barrow’s Goldeneye were found statewide.  A Common Goldeneye x Barrow’s Goldeneye (hybrid) was at Denver (Urban).  The Lake Isabel count found a count week Hooded Merganser for a new bird for that count.  A total of 72 Red-breasted Mergansers and 165 Ruddy Ducks were counted statewide.

A total of 290 Scaled Quail were found in southeast Colorado and 395 Gambel’s Quail were counted in western Colorado.  Northern Bobwhites were found on three counts, for a total of 124.  Twenty Chukars were found at Grand Mesa.  A good number of Ring-necked Pheasants were counted statewide, with a total of 541.  Both Aspen and Rocky Mountain N.P. found eight White-tailed Ptarmigan.  Denver and Steamboat Springs each found one Dusky Grouse.  A Sharp-tailed Grouse was found at Crook, and 93 were at Steamboat Springs.  Three counts found Greater Prairie-Chickens, 94 at Bonny Reservoir was an amazing sight, also 13 at Crook and four at Sterling.  Wild Turkeys were found in good numbers as well, a total of 1841 statewide.

The only Pacific Loon was at John Martin Reservoir.  Common Loons were three at Pueblo Reservoir, two at Denver, and one at Boulder.  Statewide a total of 55 Horned Grebes were found, with 39 at Pueblo Reservoir being the most on one count.  A Red-necked Grebe was a first for Fort Collins.  Of the 1754 Eared Grebes counted, 1704 were at Pueblo Reservoir.  Eleven counts found Western Grebes, with a total of 226 found.  Clark’s Grebes are much rarer in Colorado in winter, with one at John Martin Reservoir, two at Pueblo Reservoir, and a count week bird at Rawhide Energy Station.  Twenty three Double-crested Cormorants were tallied.  American White Pelicans were found with one at Denver (Urban) and Rawhide Energy Station, also count week at Gunnison (new for this count) and John Martin Reservoir.  Three Great Blue Herons were new for Eagle Valley.  Two Black-crowned Night-Herons were new for John Martin Reservoir, others found were ten at Denver (Urban), two at Denver, and one at Boulder.  Quite unexpected was a count week White-faced Ibis at John Martin Reservoir.

Northern Goshawks are always a treat to find, two at Colorado Springs and two at Longmont were high counts this year, with a total of 17 statewide.  A northern hawk, the Rough-legged Hawk was found on 17 counts, with a total of 99 tallied.

An amazing total of 58 Virginia Rails were found at Fort Collins!  Soras were at John Martin Reservoir (three), Rocky Ford (two), Pueblo (one), and a first for Salida (one).  A total of 2302 Sandhill Cranes were found at Delta, Montrose, and two at Roaring Fork River Valley, plus count week at Colorado Springs (new for this count).  New for Durango was a Spotted Sandpiper, and also Fort Collins and Grand Junction found one each.  Three Greater Yellowlegs were at John Martin Reservoir, plus one was at Grand Junction.  Very rare in Colorado, though a species that seems to be showing up a little more often in recent years, was an American Woodcock at Loveland!

Most years Bonaparte’s Gulls are only found in the southern part of the state during Christmas Bird Counts, but this year one was a Denver, two at Denver (Urban), and Fort Collins during count week.  Also five Bonaparte’s were at John Martin Reservoir, a record high of 322 at Pueblo Reservoir.  An adult Mew Gull was found in the enormous flocks of Ring-billed Gulls at Pueblo Reservoir.  A total of 84 California Gulls were found statewide, with 40 at Fort Collins being the most found.  Five counts tallied Thayer’s Gulls, with a total of eight being found.  Lesser Black-backed Gulls were found on eight counts, with a total of 14.  Single Lessers were at Barr Lake and Rawhide Energy Station were new for those two counts.  Pueblo Reservoir found the most, with four.  A Herring Gull x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid) was at Pueblo Reservoir.  Two Glaucous Gull were found at Loveland and a Great Black-backed Gull was back again at Pueblo Reservoir.

The Pueblo count found the most Eurasian Collared-Doves again, with 2762 counted.  The high count for White-winged Doves, were 110 at Pueblo Reservoir, with 136 statewide.  Two Mourning Doves at Eagle Valley were new for that count.  Two Greater Roadrunners were at John Martin Reservoir, and one was at Penrose.  Owls totals statewide:  21 Barn, 95 Western Screech-, 42 Eastern Screech-, 351 Great Horned, a Snowy Owl at Denver, 15 Northern Pygmy-, 80 Long-eared, five Short-eared, and 41 Northern Saw-whets.  One of the major highlights was the 33 White-throated Swifts found on the Pueblo Reservoir CBC – a first for any Colorado CBC.

Nine counts found a total of 60 Lewis’s Woodpeckers.  Single Acorn Woodpeckers were found again at Colorado Springs and Lake Isabel.  Rare for Pueblo, a Red-bellied Woodpecker was found there this year, as well as 41 others in regular eastern Colorado CBCs.  New for Eagle Valley and Hotchkiss were Williamson’s Sapsuckers, also three were at Penrose and a count week bird was at Durango.  A total of seven Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were found, including one in Loveland, which was new for that count.  Five Red-naped Sapsuckers were found, two at Hotchkiss, one at Pagosa Springs, a count week at Durango, all in western Colorado, plus two in Penrose in eastern Colorado.  An unknown sapsucker was on the Denver (Urban) count, where Yellow-bellied is most likely.  Four counts found Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, with a total of 14 tallied.  A total of five American Three-toed Woodpeckers were found on counts this winter.

Six Peregrine Falcons were found on four counts.  An escape Budgerigar was found during count week at Gunnison and a Fischer’s Lovebird, also an escapee, was found at Grand Junction.  Hotchkiss tallied its first Black Phoebe, plus Penrose found three and Pueblo Reservoir had a high count of four.  Unexpected on any Colorado CBC, an Eastern Phoebe made an appearance at Fountain Creek.  It was a big year for Say’s Phoebes on Colorado CBCs.  A total of 65 were found, high count of 11 each at Grand Junction and Pueblo, and four were on the Denver (Urban) CBC, which was the highest total for Northern Colorado.

Shrike totals were 31 Loggerhead and 116 Northern.  A total of 1220 (Woodhouse’s) Western Scrub-Jays were found.  Twenty-three Chihuahuan Ravens were found on five counts.  Bushtit was new for Eagle Valley, with a total of 23 tallied.  I asked Colorado birders to keep track of White-breasted Nuthatch subspecies this year on Colorado CBCs, and 42 Eastern, 1146 Interior West, and seven unknown from the plains were reported.  A single Pygmy Nuthatch was new for the Grand Mesa.  A high count of nine Rock Wrens was at Grand Junction.  Very rare in winter, a House Wren was at Pueblo Reservoir.  High counts of six Winter Wrens were at Penrose and another Pacific/Winter Wren was there as well.  A Carolina Wren was found at Lake Isabel.  Two Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were at Pueblo Reservoir. 

Unexpected in western Colorado, an Eastern Bluebird was photographed at Roaring Fork River Valley, also two at Douglas County and two at Flagler were new for these two counts.  Total bluebirds statewide were: 323 Eastern, 527 Western, and 2644 Mountain.  New to Denver (Urban) and Loveland were single Hermit Thrushes, with eight total statewide.  Always rare in Colorado, Varied Thrushes found were singles at Denver (Urban) and Granby, both new for their counts.  A total of six Gray Catbirds were found; Flagler, Salida, and Weldona-Fort Morgan found their first ones for their counts.  Lake Isabel found its first Curve-billed Thrasher, with a total of 44 statewide.  A Brown Thrasher was found at Crook for the first time, also singles were at Longmont, Rocky Ford, and Sterling.  Only two Sage Thrashers, both at Penrose, were found.  Twelve Northern Mockingbirds were found, including one at Rocky Mountain N.P., which was new for that count. 

An American Pipit at Greeley was new for their count; also a count week bird at Roaring Fork River Valley was new there.  Eighty Bohemian Waxwings graced Granby!  The 14 Cedar Waxwings at Eagle Valley were new for there.  A total of 543 Lapland Longspurs were found.  No other longspurs were found.  The two warbler highlights were a Pine Warbler at Boulder and a Yellow-throated Warbler at Fort Collins.

Fairplay found count week American Tree Sparrow for a first count record.  The high count was 318 at Crook in north east Colorado.  A surprising ten Lark Buntings were found at John Martin Reservoir.  A Slate-colored Fox Sparrow was at Durango again this year.  Red Fox Sparrows were at Bonny Reservoir, Denver, and Weldona-Fort Morgan.  Both Eagle Valley and Granby found their first White-crowned Sparrows.  Golden-crowned Sparrows were at Boulder and Pueblo Reservoir.  Ten Harris’s and eight White-throated Sparrows were found.  Three Lincoln’s Sparrows at Crook were new for that count, with a total of 16 found statewide.  Only seven Swamp Sparrows were tallied, plus count week at Loveland, which was new for that count.  A total of 55 Canyon Towhees were found in SE Colorado counts.  Two Rufous-crowned Sparrows were at Penrose.  Count Week Green-tailed Towhees were at Denver and Steamboat Springs.  Rare in Colorado, an Eastern Towhee was found at Pueblo.  I removed Chipping and Vesper sparrows from Colorado CBCs, due to lack of good documentation of these rare winter species. 

Very unexpected was a Western Tanager found during count week at Durango.  Twenty-one Northern Cardinals were found, plus count week at Greeley.  Another first for any Colorado CBC was male Lazuli Bunting at Fort Collins!  A Western/Eastern Meadowlark, reported as an Eastern Meadowlark was listed from Weldona-Fort Morgan, but no official documentation was submitted to the Colorado Bird Records Committee.  A total of 10 Yellow-headed Blackbirds were found, plus count week at Boulder.  Not a good year for Rusty Blackbirds, one at Penrose and two at Pueblo were the only ones reported.  An amazing total for winter were 507 Common Grackles were at Barr Lake, others were found on 11 other counts for a total of 591.  Great-tailed Grackles are much more common in winter, and 4155 were found, with 3519 at Barr Lake.  A Brown-headed Cowbird was a first for Eagle Valley.  Very unexpected in winter, a Bullock’s Oriole was at Pueblo!  State-wide rosy-finch totals were: 1338 Gray-crowned (no Hepburn’s were reported by compilers, though there were likely some in this total), 31 Black, 1095 Brown-capped, and 100 rosy-finch sp.  Single Purple Finches were at Flagler and Fountain Creek.  A Red Crossbill was found at Crook for the first time.

Thanks to all the compilers, counters, and landowners who let people count birds on their properties for Colorado Christmas Bird Counts.