Backyard Bird Count––

And The Winner Is…The Humble Mourning Dove

By Dottie Evans

The lowly mourning dove cooing softly on the rooftop may seem shy and retiring, but he muscled out the competition in the 2004 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).

Last year it was the dark-eyed junco that busted the numbers.

According to data released by the two GBBC sponsoring groups, the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the mourning dove was the most frequently reported bird seen nationwide at backyard feeders, with 22,063 checklists submitted listing that species.

The cardinal was the second most frequently counted bird, included in 21,805 checklists.

These statistics might mean that mourning doves and cardinals are easily recognized, but they also indicate that the numbers for both species are up and their geographic range is broad.

These results were generally reflected in Newtown and Sandy Hook, as well, where nearly 15 separate counts were submitted over the long weekend of February 13–16.

By the time 40,119 checklists were filed online nationally at the birdsource.org site, a total of 542 species of birds were identified, and 4,131,202 individual birds had been counted.

The state providing the most checklists was California followed by New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

As far as actual numbers of birds, the Canada goose topped the charts with 602,782 birds counted, which should come as no surprise to golfers or to those living near water. There were 242,865 starlings counted, and 199,687 goldfinches.

Tenth on the list of most numerous birds was the American robin at 126,035 –– a very reassuring result to Connecticut birdwatchers. Though they are not seeing robins yet, it is nice to know the robins are out there and that spring will come. Not surprisingly, most robins counted during that mid-February weekend were seen by people from the southern states.

The amateur ornithologists who participated in the GBBC were mostly backyard naturalists who simply enjoy watching birds. They stood at their kitchen windows with binoculars raised and focused on their well-filled feeders, as well as on the trees and ground nearby, waiting for the usual suspects to show up.

 Besides their binoculars, they relied on simple tools to make the count –– a pad, a pencil, and maybe a bird book lying nearby in case there was a surprise visitor they could not easily identify.

 In the 2004 count, the top ten most frequently reported birds throughout the United States were, in descending order, mourning doves, cardinals, juncos, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, house finches, house sparrows, tufted titmice, and the American crow.

The states submitting the most checklists were California and New York.

The city that sent in the greatest number of checklists was Charlotte, N.C., and the city reporting the greatest number of species was Santa Cruz, Calif. The city that saw the greatest number of all species of birds was Hutchinson, Kan., where 155,554 individuals were spotted.

In Connecticut, Farmington was the town with the most checklists submitted, and Middlebury was second. Sandy Hook was fifth, and Newtown was 17th out of the more than 50 Connecticut towns that participated.

Birds Counted In Newtown And Sandy Hook

Among the birds that Newtown residents counted were 30 juncos, 28 mourning doves, 13 chickadees and goldfinches, 11 tufted titmice, 8 purple finches and house finches, 7 downy woodpeckers, 6 red-bellied woodpeckers, 5 cardinals and bluebirds, 3 hairy woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches, 2 house sparrows, white-throated sparrows and common redpolls, 1 red-tailed hawk and 1 wild turkey.

In Sandy Hook, there seemed to be a greater variety of species and greater numbers of birds seen, as well.

There were 500 Canada geese, and 50 red-breasted mergansers counted, which means that a more experienced birdwatcher might have set up a scope and was focusing on the shores of Lake Zoar.

Also seen in Sandy Hook were 47 American goldfinches, 13 juncos, chickadees and titmice, 11 cardinals, 8 blue jays, 7 bald eagles and white-breasted nuthatches, 6 mourning doves, 5 red-bellied woodpeckers, purple finches, downy woodpeckers and purple finches, 4 turkeys and crows, 3 robins and white-throated sparrows, 2 turkey vultures, house finches and hairy woodpeckers, and 1 each of the following: great blue heron, Carolina wren, bluebird, and house sparrow.