2010 Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

The 2009 Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count (RCCBC) was held on Saturday, December 19, 2009. 154 species were recorded by 75 participants including 24 feeder watchers. Results are posted (see summary below).

The 2010 Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count (RCCBC) will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2010, so please mark your calendars.

NEW FORMS!  The Checklist ( PDF, DOC ) of bird species and the Party Hours/Miles Form ( PDF, DOC ) can be printed for use during the bird count.   In order to find out what birds are typically seen during the count, please also consult the Species List for the Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count.

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 portions of Sierra Vista (upper left), Huachuca Mountains (lower left), San Pedro River (right), and Palominas (lower right).

2009 Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count Results

The 2009 RCCBC was held on December 19. We had another wonderful day outdoors counting birds seen within our count circle. There were a total of 75 participants, 51 in the field and 24 watching their feeders and their yards. We were organized into 14 teams this year and included five groups that went out early listening for owls. We counted 11,054 total birds from among the 154 species we saw. This is an above average species count for us since we usually average about 150 species. The bird distribution was different from what we experience in many counts, with a lower total number of birds (particularly grassland seed eaters, like sparrows) and many birds feeding lower in the canyons than we normally notice, due, in part, to the poor rainfall over the last 12 months which resulted in lower production of seed and berry crops locally. It was a beautiful day with a low around freezing and a high of 66 degrees F, light winds and mostly clear skies. We had record high count numbers for 10 species, including: Bufflehead, Wild Turkey, Sora, Violet-crowned Hummingbird, Anna's Hummingbird, Northern Flicker, Bushtit, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Western Bluebird, and Black-throated Gray Warbler. Our rarest bird was a Pinyon Jay.

A complete record of the 2009 RCCBC can be viewed by visiting the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count website at http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/.

I also want to thank all of the participants and the HAS for their support and participation. The 2010 RCCBC will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2010, so mark your calendars.

Ted Mouras Compiler RCCBC

For details of any Audubon Christmas Bird Count, 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: 8 January 2010 by REW.