The annual Brantford Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday January 5th of 2025 . 40 field participants , of 20 group parties , ventured out onto the trails , the roadways , and their routes to put together a final species count of 72 species Total accumulative bird numbers was 14,673 individual birds. With 3 Count week species ( Green-Winged Teal , Snow Goose , and Hermit Thrush ) . Also of great importance is the endeavours and keen eyes of 8 feeder counters , who greatly contributed to the count day. The weather was quite challenging for many in the morning hours , as it was bitterly cold (-8 to start , -5 to finish ) often feeling like -16 with the WSW winds . Snow was light but steady for much of the day which was challenging for some . A couple inches of snow covered most areas , and most waterways remained open , with flowing ice down the Grand River . Smaller bodies of water were frozen . Overall it was one of our higher counts , almost tying or surpassing our high count of 74 species Many thanks and praise to all participants who make this inland count quite high in species numbers and quality .
Some highlight species were Yellow Rumped Warbler Golden Eagle Yellow Bellied Sapsucker Long Eared Owl Northern Shrike Savannah Sparrow Ruby Crowned Kinglet Peregrine Falcon All 3 Swan species And 5 gull species The full species list is as follows Canada Goose 2754 Trumpeter Swan 31 Tundra Sawn 1 Mute Swan 2 Mallard 1117 Am Black Duck 46 Northern Pintail 3 Common Goldeneye 154 Common Merganser 153 Hooded Merganser 11 Wild Turkey 33 Rock Pigeon 270 Mourning Dove 327 Am Herring Gull 1095 Ring -Billed Gull 52 Iceland Gull 1 Glaucous Gull 1 Gr Black -Backed Gull 4 Great Blue Heron 4 Turkey Vulture 6 Bald Eagle 22 Golden Eagle 1 Red-Tailed Hawk 64 Northern Harrier 8 Coopers Hawk 7 Sharp-Shinned Hawk 3 Great Horned Owl 6 E Screech Owl 13 Long-Eared Owl 1 Belted Kingfisher 5 Downy Woodpecker 86 Hairy Woodpecker 17 Northern Flicker 2 Yellow-Bellied Woodpecker 1 Pileated Woodpecker 3 Red-Bellied Woodpecker 51 Peregrine Falcon 2 Merlin 2 American Kestrel 2 Bluejay 152 American Crow 533 Common Raven 10 Horned Lark 142 Black-Capped Chickadee 324 Tufted Titmouse 11 White-Breasted Nuthatch 76 Red-Breasted Nuthatch 2 Brown Creeper 52 Carolina Wren 38 Winter Wren 3 Golden-Crowned Kinglet 101 Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 2 Eastern Bluebird 19 American Robin 22 European Starling 3625 Cedar Waxwing 62 House Sparrow 216 House Finch 75 American Goldfinch 192 Lapland Longspur 1 Snow Bunting 952 Yellow-Rumped Warbler 1 Am Tree Sparrow 337 Song Sparrow 14 White-Crowned Sparrow 16 White-Throated Sparrow 26 Savannah Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 1 Dark-Eyed Junco 1044 Northern Cardinal 265 Brown-Headed Cowbird 2 Northern Shrike 2 Also just a few km out of the count boundary , and not included , an Oregon Junco spotted by a feeder watcher Pardon any spelling errors or any species out of Taxonomical order Compiler Kevin Murphy Feb 20 2025 -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
