Appleton-Whittell Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

Dedicated to the Memory of Dr. Robert Whitcomb

The 2nd annual Appleton-Whittell Christmas Bird Count (AWCBC) took place on Saturday, January 5th, 2008. Despite strong winds, the provisional species total of 120 exceeded that of the inaugural count (111) a year ago. Great work! The results are summarized below.

The next AWCBC is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 3, 2009. Mark your calendars for next year. We are excited already!

This count is dedicated to Dr. Robert Whitcomb, the founder of this count, who lost his battle with cancer and died on December 21, 2007. Please read the Washington Post article to learn more about the life of this renowned research entomologist.

(Photo by Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)

Mark your calendars now for the next AWCBC tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 3rd, 2009.

See the AWCBC map of territories for a depiction of area boundaries.   Download the Field Card ( PDF, DOC ) on which to tally birds seen, the Checklist of bird species, the official CBC Rare Bird Form, and the Party Hours/Miles Form can be printed for use during the bird count.   Afterwards, you can mail hardcopy tally sheets and party hours forms from the count to Robert Weissler, P.O. Box 1105, Hereford, AZ 85615. Or if you have an on-line checklist from the count, you can e-mail it to weissler@aves.org.

Visit the National Audubon Society CBC web site for comprehensive information about the Christmas Bird Count, including history, objectives, and results. You can also find Christmas Bird Counts in Arizona, find a CBC Count Circle in Arizona or get involved in other counts outside Arizona.

The Count Circle

Shown below is a clickable Google Map of the count circle covering the Audubon Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, and portions of Fort Huachuca and the Sonoita Valley.

Appleton-Whittell Christmas Bird Count Results

The 2nd annual Appleton-Whittell Christmas Bird Count (AWCBC) took place amid strong winds, but mild temperatures on Saturday, January 5th, 2008. The provisional species total stands at 120, an improvement over last year despite much lower numbers of grassland sparrows (owing in part to the weather conditions perhaps, but also noticeable elsewhere under better climatic circumstances). The total number of individuals encountered is 5,306. This is noticeably lower than the 8,746 a year ago.

Some of the highlights of the count include a male Elegant Trogon and a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets in upper Blacktail Canyon and four Harris's Hawks and a Swainson's Hawk in the Sonoita Valley. On the other hand, a lone Grasshopper Sparrow was an indication of low winter grassland sparrows in general.

We thank all of the participants for a count well done. The next AWCBC is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 3, 2009.

Mark your calendars for next year. We are excited already!

Robert Weissler
Compiler


For all of the details of the AWCBC, please visit the CBC website at http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/.

(NOTE: Adobe Acrobat Reader available free from Adobe for reading PDF files)

Last updated: 5 February 2008 by REW.