Audubon Christmas Bird Count


The Audubon Christmas bird count has been in existence since 1897. The South Mountain Audubon Society and friends participate in the count every year since the society was founded in 1981.

The count area is a circle with a radius of 7 miles centered near Knoxlyn, PA as shown on the following map.

CBC Boundary

The count figures for recent years are given below; the complete counts (since 1981) are available as a downloadable spreadsheet. The trends in the counts are shown on a separate page.

CW - observed during the count week rather than the day of the count.

2005 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Horned Grebe             3        
Pied-billed Grebe                      
Snow Goose                   2  
Ross’s Goose               1      
Cackling Goose    1           2    
Canada Goose 1288 1551 629 1960 774 974 1023 1828 230 414 793
Tundra Swan         3     60      
Mute Swan   8 4 9 15 11 23 10 2 5 4
Greater White-fronted Goose           1 3     1  
Wood Duck     2     2          
Gadwall       4 7 2   1   1 2
American Black Duck 4 7 2 22 3 6   1     3
Mallard 98 217 133 154 165 313 141 256 59 122 131
Northern Shoveler     3 1 1 6       2  
American Widgeon 2 2     2 (CW)            
Northern Pintail   1   7   2          
Greater Scaup           29   1      
Lesser Scaup           29   1      
Ring-necked Duck   189 17 12 3   29 11 32 30
Green-winged Teal         5 35 3        
Canvasback    4                
Redhead           2          
Long-tailed Duck             1        
Common Merganser 1       3 2   21      
Hooded Merganser   3 21 2 9 8   12   6 (CW) 4
Bufflehead 10      1 6       2 2
Ruddy Duck 18 1214 6   3 5 1   1  
Ring-necked Pheasant   3  2     1 (CW)        
Double-crested Cormorant             1        
Great Blue Heron 9 5 4   6 13 8 3 5 18 7
Wild Turkey 21 7   41   4 1 28 81 13 (CW) 4
Black Vulture 53 25 27 37 62 115 48 68 17 5 5
Turkey Vulture 43 53 110 64 153 193 142 179 3 40 53
Bald Eagle   1 2 8 6 3 2 3 3 1 2
Northern Harrier 14 4 4 4 4 17 4 5 1 4 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 3 2 1 3 3 7 4   4  
Cooper’s Hawk 4 4 1 3 5 5 12 10 3 4 4
Accipiter species           2         2
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 20 10 12 16 5 17 14 8 18 23
Red-tailed Hawk 46 57 33 58 54 77 70 46 21 47 36
Rough-legged Hawk 3 11 2              
American Kestrel 29 31 10 20 24 28 48 40 22 23 48
Merlin 1       1     1      
Peregrine Falcon               2      
Unidentified Raptors           2          
Coot 1 2                  
Killdeer 1 3   8 1 18 1 5 1 1 6
Wilson’s Snipe 4     2   1 1       1
Say’s Phoebe     1 (CW)                
Ring-billed Gull 7 11 5 4 3 35 9 1 8 1  
Herring Gull 1     2              
Rock Dove 155 313 285 196 406 482 437 525 243 194 239
Mourning Dove 543 395 111 380 249 311 803 653 317 457 653
Screech Owl 3       2   1        
Great Horned Owl 4 1 5 6 6 7 2 5 3 3 2
Barred Owl 7 1   2 2 1   2   3 1
Long-eared Owl           1 1   3    
Short-eared Owl 3             6   4  
Northern Saw-whet Owl         2     1      
Belted Kingfisher 2 4 4 3 8 5 8 6 6 4 6
Red-headed Woodpecker 9 27 17 6 10 12   13 2 6 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 38 46 43 78 74 94 34 76 20 64 66
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 8 9 8 14 16 3 9 2 6 8
Downy Woodpecker 53 38 45 64 62 47 52 45 19 38 46
Hairy Woodpecker 21 10 10 9 18 13 10 7 3 8 8
Northern Flicker 16 32 24 33 68 26 25 30 22 25 20
Pileated Woodpecker 12 8 7 18 19 17 10 9 2 2 8
Eastern Phoebe               1      
Loggerhead Shrike                 1 (CW)    
Blue Jay 187 189 117 93 173 75 103 141 61 118 143
American Crow 79 152 90 110 185 228 150 183 42 68 61
Fish Crow   1                  
Common Raven 7 9 5 11 15 16 13 2 6 1 7
Horned Lark 35       97 27 24       73
Carolina Chickadee 47 55 61 107 105 52 88 72 15    
Black-capped Chickadee 25 11 3   2     1      
Chickadee species 43 70   30 48 96 43     42 61
Tufted Titmouse 67 107 73 107 109 71 81 69 13 27 70
Rufous Hummingbird           1          
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4 2 9       4   4 1 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 48 57 65 91 90 68 42 40 17 27 50
Brown Creeper 4 2 5 3 4 4 5 3 4 1 4
Carolina Wren 23 38 59 71 53 43 58 63 11 40 36
Winter Wren 9 4 1 2 8 4 2 2   2 2
Golden-Crowned Kinglet     14 14 7 19 14 20 3 5 2
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet   3 1 1 3 2 3 4   4  
Eastern Bluebird 53 88 108 56 100 107 96 129 51 64 45
Hermit Thrush 3 1 1 2 7 3 2 7   1 9
American Robin 79 14 23 9 84 395 149 183   57 59
Gray Catbird       1 1            
Northern Mockingbird 83 86 63 59 70 52 43 52 26 42 52
Brown Thrasher   1           1      
European Starling 2408 2106 869 1277 2260 4455 3649 3268 1628 2490 2516
American Pipit           200   25      
Cedar Waxwing 23 17 87 17 17 90 23 104 2 122 9
Yellow-rumped Warbler 9 10 16 23 16 8 2 10 3 2 1
Eastern Towhee 6     2 5 4 1 4   1  
American Tree Sparrow 15 14 8 65 12 16 28 11   2  
Field Sparrow 20 5 9 12 19 11 2 10 2 7 9
Fox Sparrow 4   1     2         4
Chipping Sparrow 4    1              
Savannah Sparrow   1  7     2       10
Song Sparrow 79 29 52 118 140 103 56 100 36 47 192
Swamp Sparrow 7 4 3 37 12 6 3 11 7 2 3
White-throated Sparrow 602 158 125 285 454 291 111 329 73 206 373
White-crowned Sparrow 53 73 9 50 57 65 27 42 18 27 407
White-winged Crossbilll     15                
Sparrow Species     6                
Dark-eyed Junco 983 421 248 1209 686 613 522 396 286 199 1880
Northern Cardinal 163 197 73 241 199 150 121 183 76 192 190
Red-winged Blackbird   3 10 1 1000 99 811 132 27 94 2
Eastern Meadowlark 26 210 10 23 14 2 4 1 7 14
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 2  3 100 19 172 1   3 5
Rusty Blackbird         5   28        
Yellow-headed Blackbird         1            
Common Grackle     9 2 302   22        
Purple Finch 47 2 5 3 1       1   2
House Finch 89 34 71 101 154 129 92 91 20 98 182
Pine Siskin   28 4 (CW)               18
Common Redpoll         1           1
American Goldfinch 119 53 39 90 112 103 52 41 10 17 138
House Sparrow 97 92 79 101 79 157 157 124 74 146 127
                       
Total Species Reported 74 78 73 78 81 81 74 79 58 73 72
Total Individuals Counted 8087 7911 4073 7868 9275 10756 9720 10028 3637 5752 9124