The 95th Toronto Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday December 16th, 2018 on a fairly warm 5 °C, but mostly cloudy day. 137 birders combed the city from dawn till dusk in what turned out to be a very interesting year.
There were no first records for our count, although diversity was relatively high at 92 species. Only four previous years in our count circle’s long history have yielded more. Individual numbers of birds were solid as well, with 28,748 seen overall; well within our normal range. A number of local high species counts were recorded, some surely due to recent mild weather that allowed for insectivores to hang on locally. Five EASTERN PHOEBES were detected along various routes (the first since 1988!), while 2 BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLERS, a smattering of both RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT and a couple of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS rounded out the insectivorous birds who have normally moved on by now. High counts were recorded for EASTERN BLUEBIRD (36!), TUNDRA SWAN (11), DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT (18), RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH (118), and HERMIT THRUSH (11). The continuing local increase of Red-bellied Woodpeckers was also evident with an all-time high of 13 seen. With the exception of BUFFLEHEAD, which were present in good numbers (517), many waterfowl species were present in somewhat lower than normal numbers. AMERICAN BLACK DUCK (40) and NORTHERN SHOVELER (1) were particularly low, as was LONG-TAILED DUCK, although at 2,412 recorded, there were still enough to keep everyone happy. Another notable sighting was the downtown WILD TURKEY that continues to confuse urban passerby at Bickford Park. Thanks to all sector leaders, volunteers, and the compilation team: Ivor Williams, Amanda Guercio, Garth Riley and Howard Shapiro. Emily Rondel, CBC coordinator, Toronto Ornithological Club _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
