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Tucson Audubon Society See the species count and list of participants for this Christmas Bird Count First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who participated in the 2004 count. It was a memorable count and we had the highest number of participants in years as 77 people were in the field or at feeders. Please join us for the next count on Sunday, December 18, 2005. There was a lot of excitement over the discovery of the LeConte’s Sparrow along the Santa Cruz River south of the Ina Road bridge. It was found by Keith Kamper and Peter Salomon on the day of the count and will be a second state record if accepted, the first record was in Topock, AZ. (See photos of the sparrow on the Arizona Bird Committee website.) To top that, Rich Hoyer, (a bird guide for Field Guides) had what he believed to be a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeders in his yard. Hummingbird bander, Sheri Williamson of the Southeast Arizona Bird Observatory in Bisbee, banded the suspect and found it indeed to be the first Arizona record of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Although the hummingbird was identified after the Christmas Bird Count was held, it was seen on the day of the count and so will be counted. There were other exciting finds on the day of the count like an American Bittern and Harris’s Sparrow along the Santa Cruz River. Noticeable this year was the low numbers of sparrows again, probably due to the continuing drought. The numbers of Mourning Doves dropped to 5394 from 12,047 in 2003. The numbers of species found was also lower than 2003. 2003 had 139 species and this year 136. More owl species could have brought the number up to 138, with the Western Screech owl and Burrowing owl missing this year. Of course, every year is different and that’s what makes it interesting. The number of individuals counted this year was 32,108 down over 10,000 from the 42,431 counted in 2003. For more information on the Tucson Valley Christmas Bird Count contact: Susan
Birky, Compiler
Bird questions? Check Birding | General questions? Contact: Tucson Audubon Society | Webmaster: Email This page was updated on 02/21/06 |