The 117th CBC in Mississippi and Alabama

Mississippi ran the same 19 Christmas Bird Counts this year as last, and with the return of the Cullman count, Alabama’s number of CBCs increased to 11.  This increased the region’s total to 30 counts, which ties the highest number ever held in the two-state area.  Together these counts recorded a total of 208 species, one more than last year.  Alabama alone reported 189 species, just squeaking ahead of Mississippi’s 188.  The single count with the highest species total was (again) Southern Hancock County, MS at 141, followed by Jackson County, MS at 136.  Eufaula, AL had the highest species total for an inland count at 125, followed by Wheeler N.W.R., AL at 123.  In all, 11 of the 30 counts broke the 100-species mark.  The region reported just under a million total birds, with Snow Geese alone accounting for 40% of that number.  Mississippi came in with approximately 669,000 total birds and Alabama had 328,000. 

This was a great CBC season for rare ducks (Order Anseriformes).  Gulf Shores, AL reported 16 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks; Sidon, MS tallied six (Atlantic) Brant; and Wheeler N.W.R. found a Eurasian Wigeon.  While none of these sightings constitute first state records, they are all rare enough that none of them have been reported on a CBC in this region before.  To put this in context, for recent years it is typical for no species to be reported that have not been previously reported on some CBC in the region at some time in the past.

Snow Geese were found on about half the counts with a total of over 400,000 for the region, which is a respectable showing.  As usual, the bulk were reported from the Mississippi delta (loosely defined as the floodplain area west of Interstate 55 and north of Vicksburg in NW Mississippi), with half the total being found on the Sidon count alone.  Sardis Lake, MS (2) and Montgomery, AL (1) reported the only Cackling Geese.  Northern Pintail did not occur in great numbers, but were more widely distributed than normal, with a total of 935 found on 13 counts (max 463 at Wheeler N.W.R.).  Four Black Scoters were found along the coast on the Southern Hancock County count, plus two at Wheeler N.W.R and one at Waterloo, AL, which are both far northern counts.  Eagle Lake, MS reported a rare Long-tailed Duck.  And 315 Common Goldeneyes, well above average, were tallied on 12 counts (max 210 at Waterloo).  A Common Merganser was a count week bird at Sardis Lake.

The 403 Horned Grebes on 11 counts were more than normal (max 113 at Waterloo).  Ten Eared Grebes at Hattiesburg, MS were an unusual find, with another reported along the coast at Jackson County, MS.  Magnificent Frigatebirds, rare in winter, put on a great showing, being found on three of the four coastal counts, with three at Jackson County and singles at Dauphin Island, AL and Gulf Shores.  Gulf Shores also had 31 Northern Gannets, with two more found at Dauphin Island.  Over 5000 White Pelicans on 15 counts was a high number for the region, with Arkabutla Lake, MS, Eagle Lake and Washington County, MS (all delta counts) each reporting over 1000 birds.

The only American Bittern reported was at Gulf Shores.  Snowy Egrets winter commonly along the coast but one was also found inland at Natchez, MS.  Dauphin Island reported 10 Reddish Egrets with another count week bird at Southern Hancock County.  Eufaula N.W.R., AL found the only Green Heron.  Black-crowned Night Herons occurred in above average numbers, as Birmingham, AL had eight, Gulf Shores had seven, Guntersville, AL had two, and Jackson County had one.  Auburn, AL and Gulf Shores each had a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.  White Ibis were only found on three counts (less widespread then normal).  Southern Hancock County, Jackson County, and Eufaula N.W.R. each reported ibis numbers in the double digits.  Twenty-seven of the 30 counts reported Bald Eagles, with a region total of 222 (max 40 at Guntersville).  This is part of a long slow recovery trend following their disappearance from the region in the 1960’s due to DDT poisoning.  Whooping Cranes are another success story as Wheeler N.W.R. reported them for the 10^th winter in a row (15 this year). 

Dauphin Island tallied the only American Oystercatchers (6), and Jackson County had the only American Avocet.  Jackson County had 42 Black-necked Stilts and Southern Hancock County had one.  The same two counts had three and one Marbled Godwits, respectively.  Dauphin Island had a rare Purple Sandpiper and 13 Western Sandpipers (unusual in winter).  American Woodcocks were more commonly reported than usual, with 18 from Jackson County, plus single digit numbers from six other locations.  Laughing Gulls are abundant along the coast, but one at Grenada, MS is a rare inland record.  Very unusual was a count week Franklin’s Gull at Southern Hancock County.  Sardis Lake and Wheeler N.W.R. both reported single Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  The only Great Black-backed Gull reported was one at Dauphin Island.  A Sandwich Tern, rare in winter, was found at Gulf Shores.

Natchez again was the only location reporting Inca Doves (7).  Their expansion into our region from the southwest, which started a decade ago, appears to have largely stalled at our border.  They are occasionally found elsewhere, most commonly along the coast and along the Mississippi River, but the only reliably consistent spot for them continues to be in the Natchez area.  A region total of 17 Common Ground-Doves from six CBCs is more than normal.  Two Short-eared Owls were at Grenada and another was found at Dauphin Island.  Gulf Shores reported two Ruby-throated and one Black chinned hummingbirds.  In addition, a count week, unidentified to species (Archilochus sp.) was at Southern Hancock county.  Gulf Shores found two Rufous Hummingbirds; Birmingham, AL and Montgomery, AL each had one; Hattiesburg had a count week bird; and Gulf Shores also had another one unidentified to species (Selasphorus sp.).

Four Vermilion Flycatchers were reported along the coast at Jackson County, with the only inland report being one at Eagle Lake.  It was a mild invasion winter for Red-breasted Nuthatches with single digit numbers from 13 counts spread throughout the region.  An impressive total of 108 Winter Wrens were reported from 19 counts in the region, with Gulf Shores reporting 21 and Noxubee N.W.R., MS and Sardis Lake both reporting 20.  European Starlings were reported from almost all of the counts, but the region’s total of less than 10,000 was certainly low.  A total of 125 Lapland Longspurs were reported from Dahomey-Great River Road, MS and another 71 from Arkabutla Lake, both counts in the delta where they are most expected, plus small numbers from Wheeler N.W.R. (4), Dauphin Island (1), and Noxubee N.W.R. (1).  Eufaula N.W.R. reported two Black-and-white Warblers, with singles reported form Birmingham and Gulf Shores.  Gulf Shores also found two Yellow-throated Warblers.

An impressive five Grasshopper Sparrows were reported from Brooklyn-Camp Shelby, MS, another from Jackson County, and a count week bird from Dauphin Island.  Four Le Conte’s Sparrows were reported from Sardis Lake and another from Southern Hancock County.  Dauphin Island had 22 Nelson’s Sparrows and six Seaside Sparrows, with another Seaside at Southern Hancock County.  Southern Hancock County and Wheeler N.W.R. both had single Lark Sparrows.  Dark-eyed Juncos wintered in quite low numbers (regional total of 883) with numbers decreasing to the south and none reaching the coastal counts.  Sidon had two Lincoln’s Sparrows, and Eufaula N.W.R. and Gulf Shores each had one.  Birmingham had a count week Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Southern Hancock County had a Painted Bunting.  Both are common summer breeders, but rarely linger into the winter.

Large blackbird flocks were not found this season with approximate regional totals of only 83,000 Red-winged Blackbirds, 50,000 Common Grackles, and 5000 Brown-headed Cowbirds being reported.  Low European Starling numbers were mentioned above.  However, Rusty and Brewer’s blackbirds (which are always a small fraction of the total blackbird populations) had notably above average regional numbers at 1900 and 1400, respectively.  Gulf Shores reported three Baltimore Orioles, Montgomery had two, and a count week bird was found at Auburn.  Purple Finches were more widespread than usual, being found on 19 counts (max 34 at Washington County).  Finally, single Pine Siskins were found on the Jackson, MS and Guntersville counts.