2023 Rector Christmas Bird Count Results

by Annie Lindsay

For a few hours before dawn on the chilly morning of December 16, several intrepid birders scoured the Rector Christmas Bird Count circle for owls, and with a bit of luck, counted four species. Eastern Screech-Owl is a common, year-round resident and a respectable 14 individuals were heard calling that morning, in addition to one encounter each of Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, and Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Once the sun rose that morning, the owlers were joined by many other birders to spend the day systematically searching for and tallying all the birds they could see and hear throughout the day. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is an annual citizen science tradition that began in 1900 with the goal of counting all the birds that participants encounter within an established 15-mile diameter circle on a selected day between December 14 and January 5. The Rector count, centered just northwest of Powdermill Nature Reserve, covers a variety of habitats and elevations spanning from the Chestnut Ridge to the Laurel Ridge, and has been going strong since 1974. Because of the diversity of habitats and the dedication of participants, Rector CBCers have totaled 132 species within the circle, including a new species added this year.

The Rector count circle is divided into sectors, and this year’s 43 participants fanned out to cover as much territory as they could within their assigned sectors, some opting to hike trails in the state parks and forest, some traveling the roads by car, stopping periodically to listen and watch, and eight birders counted the species they saw visiting their feeders and yards. At the end of the day, everyone gathered at Powdermill for the tally dinner, an evening to chat about the day’s events, share a delicious meal, and to add up the birds each group counted. This year’s total was above average with 6,131 individuals of 76 species tallied, surpassed in recent years only by 2021, a year with unseasonably warm temperatures extending quite late into the fall that garnered several species not normally expected to persist into December. Many species set new high-count records this year, including Canada Goose, Black Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, American Woodcock, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, and Red-winged Blackbird. Although some of these high counts likely can be attributed to increased effort and number of participants, almost all of these species seem to be expanding their ranges northward, or are occurring in southwestern Pennsylvania in greater numbers, often year-round, a trend ornithologists have been noticing in recent years.

Excitement is always high at the tally, and this year was no exception. Highlights of the count were plentiful as participants shared photos and stories about their birds-of-the-day. One group found two Ruby-crowned Kinglets (nearly matching the count’s high total of three set in 2021) and a massive flock of 915 Canada Geese, which was the bulk of the day’s record-setting total. Another group found an Eastern Phoebe, a species recorded only twice before on the Rector CBC, perched in a tree pumping its tail up and down. Three participants photographed a Rough-legged Hawk, a species uncommon enough that they knew they would have to “prove” their identification, soaring over farm fields while driving to get lunch. And another group reported a flock of 150 Red-winged and 20 Rusty Blackbirds, setting a record for Red-wingeds and the highest count of Rusties since the mid-1990s. They also spotted an American Woodcock, a new species for the count, doing its bobbing walk in a wet spot along a road. 

One more notable finding of the day was three leucistic Red-tailed Hawks. At least one had been spotted at the edges of fields near Powdermill for much of 2023, but on the day of the count, two different birds, with varying amounts of white, were spotted and photographed in those fields, and a third was spotted many miles to the northwest in a different sector. The word “leucistic” refers to lack of pigment, and these leucistic birds have one or, in the case of these particular hawks, many white feathers. Finding one leucistic bird is uncommon, but three relatively large birds showing this same coloration is quite rare.

As we wrap up the 124^th Christmas Bird Count season and submit the Rector count’s data to the National Audubon Society, we thank all participants for their commitment to the birds and look forward to next year’s count!

For more information about the Christmas Bird Count and to see how the data are used, please visit: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count

Final 2023 Tally:

*Canada Goose – 1009

Mute Swan – 4

Tundra Swan – 1

Wood Duck – 1

American Black Duck – 13

Mallard – 74

Bufflehead – 2

Hooded Merganser – 11

Common Merganser – 3

Ruddy Duck – 6

Ring-necked Pheasant – 7

Wild Turkey – 14

Pied Billed Grebe – 6

*Black Vulture – 55

Turkey Vulture – 80

Northern Harrier – 1

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1

Cooper’s Hawk – 2

Black Eagle – 2

Red-shouldered Hawk – 9

*Red-tailed Hawk – 66

Rough-legged Hawk – 1

Killdeer – 3

*American Woodcock – 1

Rock Pigeon – 37

Mourning Dove – 90

Eastern Screech-Owl – 14

Great Horned Owl – 1

Barred Owl – 1

Northern Saw-whet Owl – 1

Belted Kingfisher – 8

Red-headed Woodpecker – 6

*Red-bellied Woodpecker – 102

*Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 16

Downy Woodpecker – 66

*Hairy Woodpecker – 28

Northern Flicker – 17

*Pileated Woodpecker – 38

American Kestrel – 2

Eastern Phoebe – 1

Blue Jay – 287

American Crow – 764

Common Raven – 25

Carolina Chickadee – 1

Black-capped Chickadee – 311

Tufted Titmouse – 212

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 7

White-breasted Nuthatch – 144

Brown Creeper – 8

Winter Wren – 3

*Carolina Wren – 86

Golden-crowned Kinglet – 60

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 2

*Eastern Bluebird – 191

Hermit Thrush – 5

American Robin – 85

*Northern Mockingbird – 19

European Starling – 794

Cedar Waxwing – 45

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 7

American Tree Sparrow – 7

Field Sparrow – 5

Fox Sparrow – 1

Dark-eyed Junco – 411

White-throated Sparrow – 105

Song Sparrow – 117

Swamp Sparrow – 12

Eastern Towhee – 3

Northern Cardinal – 168

*Red-winged Blackbird – 151

Rusty Blackbird – 20

House Finch – 110

Purple Finch – 1

American Goldfinch – 90

House Sparrow – 61

Total Species: 76

Total Individuals: 6,131

*asterisk indicates high total for count

Annie Lindsay is Banding Program Manager at Powdermill Nature Reserve, Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s environmental research center.

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