The 119th Christmas Bird Count: Canada High Counts

Words by Yousif Attia
Canada CBC Coordinator, Birds Canada
Published December 09, 2019

During the 119th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in Canada, counts reported 285 species, down two species from last year, and 11 infraspecific forms. One additional species, Brambling (Medicine Hat, AB), was seen only during count week and one species, and Fish Crow (Hamilton, ON), was new to the all-time Canadian species list. The all-time Canadian species list now includes a total of 438 species.

Each of Canada’s ten provinces and two out of three territories scored at least one species high count during the 119th CBC season. British Columbia had the most species high counts of all the Canadian regions (139), followed by Ontario (72) and Nova Scotia (31). Victoria, BC was the circle to achieve the most species high counts (42), followed by a three-way tie (10) between Vancouver, BC, St. Johns, NL, and Halifax-Dartmouth, NS. Fourteen of the high counts in the 119th CBC season are all-time Canadian highs (numbers boldfaced). Thirty-seven high counts are high counts not only for Canada, but all North America (numbers italicized). Two species are considered pending and under review by the Bird Records Committee (underlined). Exotics and hybrids are excluded from this list.

Snow Goose 2965 (ON, Kettle Point); Ross’s Goose 2 (ON, St. Clair N.W.A.); Greater White-fronted Goose 202 (BC, Victoria); Pink-footed Goose 1 (NS, Yarmouth); Brant 292 (BC, White Rock); Cackling Goose 5305 (BC, Chilliwack); Canada Goose 29,445 (AB, Lethbridge); Mute Swan 620 (ON, Holiday Beach); Trumpeter Swan 764 (BC, Chilliwack); Tundra Swan 9459 (ON, Blenheim); Wood Duck 183 (BC, Victoria); Blue-winged Teal 24 (BC, Lake Windermere District); Northern Shoveler 607 (BC, Abbotsford-Mission); Gadwall 419 (BC, Victoria); Eurasian Wigeon 42 (BC, White Rock); American Wigeon 8382 (BC, White Rock); Mallard 46,851 (ON, St. Clair N.W.A.); American Black Duck 7560 (ON, St. Clair N.W.A.); Northern Pintail 3938 (BC, White Rock); Green-winged Teal (Eurasian) 1 (BC, Greater Masset, Vancouver, Victoria; NL, St. Johns); Green-winged Teal (American) 1312 (BC, Victoria); Canvasback 6898 (ON, Holiday Beach); Redhead 6187 (ON, Long Point); Ring-necked Duck 354 (BC, Victoria); Tufted Duck 39 (NL, St. Johns); Greater Scaup 12,713 (ON, Point Pelee); Lesser Scaup 1001 (ON, Point Pelee); King Eider 1 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth; ON, Peach Tree; QC, Perce); Common Eider 1150 (NB, Shediac); Harlequin Duck 374 (BC, Campbell River); Surf Scoter 2849 (BC, Comox); White-winged Scoter 1760 (ON, Peach Tree); Black Scoter 287 (PE, East Point); Long-tailed Duck 6327 (ON, Hamilton); Bufflehead 1404 (BC, Victoria); Common Goldeneye 2754 (ON, Point Pelee); Barrow's Goldeneye 1227 (BC, Vancouver); Hooded Merganser 329 (BC, Victoria); Common Merganser 2035 (ON, Barrie); Red-breasted Merganser 1758 (ON, Kingston); Ruddy Duck 217 (ON, Long Point).

California Quail 1603 (BC, Oliver-Osoyoos); Chukar 151 (BC, Oliver-Osoyoos); Gray Partridge 217 (SK, Morse); Ring-necked Pheasant 169 (NB, Sackville); Ruffed Grouse 55 (ON, Algonquin P.P.); Greater Sage-Grouse 2 (AB, Manyberries); Spruce Grouse 25 (YT, Haines Junction); Willow Ptarmigan 44 (NT, Yellowknife); White-tailed Ptarmigan 3 (BC, Big White); Dusky Grouse 1 (BC, Penticton; YT, Carcross); Sooty Grouse 1 (BC, Pender Islands); Sharp-tailed Grouse 305 (MB, Gimli); Wild Turkey 609 (ON, Alfred-Montebello); Pied-billed Grebe 41 (BC, Victoria); Horned Grebe 191 (BC, Victoria); Red-necked Grebe 82 (BC, Comox); Eared Grebe 4 (BC, Galiano-North Saltspring); Western Grebe 617 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 10,357 (AB, Grande Prairie); Band-tailed Pigeon 50 (BC, Vancouver); Eurasian Collared-Dove 443 (BC, Vernon); Mourning Dove 1380 (ON, St. Catharines); Anna's Hummingbird 1067 (BC, Victoria); Virginia Rail 17 (BC, Nanaimo); American Coot 1148 (BC, Victoria); Sandhill Crane 1602 (ON, Long Point); Black Oystercatcher 120 (BC, Deep Bay); Black-bellied Plover 106 (BC, Campbell River); Killdeer 172 (BC, Chilliwack); Long-billed Curlew 1 (BC, White Rock); Marbled Godwit 2 (BC, White Rock); Ruddy Turnstone 1 (BC, Skidegate Inlet); Black Turnstone 327 (BC, Comox); Surfbird 200 (BC, Pender Islands); Sanderling 571 (BC, Rose Spit); Dunlin 4050 (BC, White Rock); Rock Sandpiper 24 (BC, Skidegate Inlet); Purple Sandpiper 59 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Little Stint 1 (BC, Greater Masset); Western Sandpiper 4 (BC, White Rock); Long-billed Dowitcher 43 (BC, Vancouver); Jack Snipe 1 (BC, Greater Masset); American Woodcock 1 (ON, Long Point); Wilson's Snipe 96 (BC, Greater Masset); Spotted Sandpiper 4 (BC, Victoria); Willet 1 (NS, Broad Cove); Greater Yellowlegs 22 (BC, Deep Bay).

Dovekie 117 (NL, St. Johns); Common Murre 4264 (BC, Sooke); Thick-billed Murre 5 (NL, St. Johns); Razorbill 471 (NS, Brier Island); Black Guillemot 136 (NB, Blacks Harbour); Pigeon Guillemot 52 (BC, Victoria); Marbled Murrelet 48 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Ancient Murrelet 774 (BC, Little River-Powell River Ferry); Rhinoceros Auklet 21 (BC, Victoria); Atlantic Puffin 3 (NS, White Point); Black-legged Kittiwake 500 (NB, Miscou Island); Bonaparte's Gull 803 (BC, Pender Islands); Black-headed Gull 39 (NS, Chezzetcook); Little Gull 1 (ON, Niagara Falls); Mew Gull 2752 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Ring-billed Gull 6455 (ON, Point Pelee); Western Gull 20 (BC, Pender Islands); California Gull 206 (BC, Penticton); Herring Gull 6665 (NL, St. Johns); Iceland Gull 1736 (NL, St. Johns); Iceland Gull (Thayer’s) 20 (BC, Deep Bay); Iceland Gull (kumlieni) 20 (NS, Brier Island); Lesser Black-backed Gull 10 (NL, St. Johns); Glaucous-winged Gull 7888 (BC, Vancouver); Glaucous Gull 381 (NL, St. Johns); Great Black-backed Gull 2363 (NS, Cape Sable Island); Red-throated Loon 535 (ON, Point Pelee); Pacific Loon 521 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Common Loon 109 (NS, Lunenburg); Yellow-billed Loon 6 (BC, Hecate Strait); Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 2 (BC, Rose Spit); Sooty Shearwater 4 (BC, Rose Spit); Northern Gannet 10 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Brandt's Cormorant 637 (BC, Victoria); Double-crested Cormorant 1108 (BC, Victoria); Great Cormorant 134 (NS, Brier Island); Pelagic Cormorant 354 (BC, Victoria); American White Pelican 2 (SK, Gardiner Dam); Great Blue Heron 152 (BC, Vancouver); Green Heron 4 (BC, Pitt Meadows); Black-crowned Night-Heron 4 (ON, Hamilton).

Black Vulture 6 (ON, Niagara Falls); Turkey Vulture 190 (ON, Dunnville); Golden Eagle 11 (BC, Pembroke); Northern Harrier 90 (ON, Amherst Island); Sharp-shinned Hawk 16 (BC, Victoria); Cooper's Hawk 49 (BC, Victoria); Northern Goshawk 5 (AB, Cochrane Wildlife Reserve; NL, St. Johns; ON, Pakenham-Arnprior); Bald Eagle 875 (BC, Squamish); Red-shouldered Hawk 2 (ON, Blenheim); Broad-winged Hawk 1 (NB, Cape Tormentine; NS, Bedford-Sackville); Red-tailed Hawk 131 (ON, St. Catharines); Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's) 1 (BC, Kelowna, Smithers); Rough-legged Hawk 59 (ON, Amherst Island); Barn Owl 6 (BC, White Rock); Western Screech-Owl 2 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Screech-Owl 44 (ON, Cambridge); Great Horned Owl 29 (BC, Victoria); Snowy Owl 55 (ON, Amherst Island); Northern Hawk Owl 2 (AB, Slave Lake); Northern Pygmy-Owl 5 (BC, Smithers); Barred Owl 13 (BC, Victoria); Great Gray Owl 4 (AB, Cochrane Wildlife Reserve); Long-eared Owl 3 (ON, Holiday Beach); Short-eared Owl 10 (ON, Amherst Island); Boreal Owl 2 (AB, Devon-Calmar); Northern Saw-whet Owl 6 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth).

Belted Kingfisher 40 (BC, Pender Islands); Red-headed Woodpecker 4 (ON, Kettle Point); Red-bellied Woodpecker 126 (ON, London); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3 (ON, Blenheim); Red-naped Sapsucker 1 (BC, Lardeau); Red-breasted Sapsucker 11 (BC, Duncan, Galiano-North Saltspring); American Three-toed Woodpecker 12 (YT, Tombstone); Black-backed Woodpecker 9 (ON, Algonquin P.P.); Downy Woodpecker 465 (AB, Edmonton); Hairy Woodpecker 188 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); Northern Flicker 499 (BC, Victoria); Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 313 (BC, Penticton); Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 52 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Pileated Woodpecker 61 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); American Kestrel 37 (ON, Peach Tree); Merlin 14 (BC, Victoria); Gyrfalcon 3 (AB, Calgary); Peregrine Falcon 14 (BC, Victoria); Prairie Falcon 7 (AB, Milk River).

Western Kingbird 1 (ON, Long Point); Eastern Phoebe 5 (ON, Toronto); Say’s Phoebe 1 (BC, Vernon); Northern Shrike 18 (QC, Quebec); White-eyed Vireo 1 (ON, Blenheim); Hutton's Vireo 6 (BC, Sooke); Canada Jay 160 (AB, Sheep River); Steller's Jay 153 (BC, Chilliwack); Blue Jay 988 (NS, Wolfville); California Scrub-Jay 1 (BC, Pitt Meadows, Vancouver); Clark's Nutcracker 38 (BC, Kimberley); Black-billed Magpie 2647 (AB, Calgary); American Crow 125,000 (ON, St. Clair N.W.A.); Northwestern Crow 14,819 (BC, Vancouver); Fish Crow 1 (ON, Hamilton); Common Raven 2516 (YT, Whitehorse); Eurasian Skylark 1 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Horned Lark 690 (ON, Skunk's Misery); Violet-green Swallow 1 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 (ON, Wallaceburg); Barn Swallow 2 (BC, Vancouver); Black-capped Chickadee 3153 (AB, Edmonton); Mountain Chickadee 407 (BC, Banff-Canmore); Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2354 (BC, Victoria); Boreal Chickadee 177 (AB, Sheep River); Tufted Titmouse 33 (ON, Kettle Point); Bushtit 1286 (BC, Victoria); Red-breasted Nuthatch 531 (AB, Edmonton); White-breasted Nuthatch 708 (MB, Winnipeg); Pygmy Nuthatch 275 (BC, Kelowna); Brown Creeper 147 (BC, Victoria).

Canyon Wren 9 (BC, Oliver-Osoyoos); House Wren 1 (NS, Bedford-Sackville); Pacific Wren 279 (BC, Victoria); Winter Wren 29 (ON, Toronto); Marsh Wren 34 (BC, Nanaimo); Carolina Wren 111 (ON, Hamilton); Bewick's Wren 254 (BC, Victoria); American Dipper 51 (AB, Crowsnest); Golden-crowned Kinglet 1131 (BC, Victoria); Ruby-crowned Kinglet 243 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Bluebird 130 (ON, Port Burwell-Vienna); Western Bluebird 205 (BC, Penticton); Mountain Bluebird 1 (BC, Penticton); Townsend's Solitaire 23 (BC, Williams Lake); Hermit Thrush 11 (ON, Toronto); Fieldfare 1 (BC, Salmon Arm); American Robin 3818 (BC, Victoria); Varied Thrush 132 (BC, Shuswap Lake P.P.); Gray Catbird 3 (NS, Yarmouth); Brown Thrasher 1 (AB, High River; NB, Quispamsis-Hampton; NS, Broad Cove; ON, Huntsville); Northern Mockingbird 30 (ON, Peach Tree); European Starling 17,116 (ON, Niagara Falls); Bohemian Waxwing 16,835 (AB, Calgary); Cedar Waxwing 408 (ON, Peterborough); House Sparrow 5617 (AB, Calgary); American Pipit 99 (BC, Victoria); Evening Grosbeak 584 (QC, Chute-St-Phillipe); Pine Grosbeak 548 (MB, Pinawa-Lac du Bonnet); Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch 6 (AB, Crowsnest); House Finch 1035 (BC, Victoria); Purple Finch 282 (BC, Pitt Meadows); Cassin's Finch 60 (BC, Peachland); Common Redpoll 1054 (ON, Gananoque); Hoary Redpoll 62 (AB, Jasper); Red Crossbill 237 (BC, Kimberley); White-winged Crossbill 1257 (AB, Banff-Canmore); Pine Siskin 2145 (BC, Duncan); Lesser Goldfinch 3 (BC, Oliver-Osoyoos); American Goldfinch 1029 (NS, Wolfville).

Lapland Longspur 11 (ON, La Foret Larose); Snow Bunting 2000 (QC, Mirabel); Spotted Towhee 935 (BC, Victoria); Eastern Towhee 4 (ON, Long Point, St. Thomas); American Tree Sparrow 467 (ON, Long Point); Chipping Sparrow 5 (NB, Jemseg-Gagetown; NS, White Point, Wolfville, Yarmouth); Clay-colored Sparrow 1 (NB, Riverside-Albert; NS, White Point); Field Sparrow 6 (ON, Wallaceburg); Vesper Sparrow 1 (ON, Point Pelee); Lark Sparrow 1 (BC, Port Alberni); Savannah Sparrow 42 (BC, Abbotsford-Mission); Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) 1 (NS, Cape Sable Island); LeConte’s Sparrow 2 (BC, Greater Masset); Fox Sparrow 386 (BC, Victoria); Song Sparrow 921 (BC, Vancouver); Lincoln's Sparrow 29 (BC, Abbotsford-Mission); Swamp Sparrow 111 (ON, Long Point); White-throated Sparrow 177 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Harris's Sparrow 2 (AB, Banff-Canmore; BC, Abbotsford-Mission, Kelowna); White-crowned Sparrow 458 (BC, Victoria); Golden-crowned Sparrow 1018 (BC, Victoria); Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1331 (ON, West Elgin); Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 4471 (BC, Victoria).

Yellow-breasted Chat 3 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Yellow-headed Blackbird 1 (MB, Oak Hammock Marsh; NS, Shubenacadie); Bobolink 1 (ON, St. Thomas); Eastern Meadowlark 2 (ON, West Elgin); Western Meadowlark 29 (BC, Sidney-South Saltspring); Baltimore Oriole 6 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Red-winged Blackbird 1062 (ON, Blenheim); Brown-headed Cowbird 1160 (ON, Blenheim); Rusty Blackbird 79 (ON, Long Point); Brewer's Blackbird 752 (BC, Parksville-Qualicum Beach); Common Grackle 275 (ON, Blenheim); Ovenbird 1 (ON, Uxbridge); Northern Waterthrush 1 (ON, Blenheim); Black-and-white Warbler 2 (ON, Toronto); Orange-crowned Warbler 11 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Nashville Warbler 1 (NL, St. Johns; ON, Dunnville); Common Yellowthroat 5 (ON, Blenheim); Cape May Warbler 1 (ON, St. Catharines); Palm Warbler 2 (BC, Greater Masset, Victoria); Pine Warbler 2 (NS, Lunenburg; ON, Cambridge;); Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 54 (NS, Halifax-Dartmouth); Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) 7 (BC, Kelowna); Townsend's Warbler 10 (BC, Sooke); Wilson's Warbler 1 (BC, Chilliwack); Northern Cardinal 636 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 (ON, Ottawa-Gatineau); Dickcissel 1 (NS, Glace Bay, The Sydneys).