Burlington Winter Bird Count Results
By Larry Clarfeld
The final tally from last month's Burlington Winter Bird Count was 75 species on count day, plus one hybrid and another 3 count week species (that I know of). You can also check out our eBird Trip Report here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/441954 . This is not a complete list, as it has only the data reported via eBird.
Despite challenging conditions with morning snow, we set quite a few new records and had a relatively high number of species for a non-irruption year. The highlight was probably the Harlequin Duck found on the Burlington waterfront, only our 2nd ever and the first since 1993. Another highlight was Common Grackle, which surprisingly is our first since 1999 (they were found pretty regularly from the 1960's to 1980's). For the 2nd year in a row, but only the third time in our count's history, we tallied a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Here are some other notable records:
In the waterfowl department, we tallied a record high 103 Ring-necked Duck (previous record was 22) for this uncommon species. We did pretty well with waterfowl, generally. In addition to the Harlequin, we picked up White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, and Wood Duck; however, we only found 14 Common Mergansers, our lowest number since 1973. Large numbers of scaup continued this year, with over 6500 total.
Raptors were quite numerous this year. We set new high counts for Black Vulture (19) and Bald Eagle (22), and found our first Rough-legged Hawks since 2020. We also tallied all three expected falcon species, with only our fourth Kestrel since the year 2000. Owling conditions were quite good, and our two owling teams managed to double the previous high count for Northern Saw-whet Owl (4) and tie the record for Eastern Screech-Owl (13).
Among songbirds, the usual batch of expanding southern species continues to break records. This year, we recorded new record highs for Red-bellied Woodpecker (77), Northern Flicker (20), Carolina Wren (49), White-throated Sparrow (46), and Northern Cardinal (332). Other notable songbirds include a new record high of 4 Hermit Thrush (doubling our previous record). The most notable low count was House Sparrow (104), with its lowest tally in over 60 years, continuing a long-term declining trend for this species.
"Land birds" had a good year, with Snow Bunting, Horned Lark, and only our 5th-ever Lapland Longspur, and only the 2nd sighting since 1966! Despite predictions of a good flight year for irruptive species, just a single Pine Siskin and a trio of Purple Finches were found. American Goldfinch, on the other hand, had a banner year, with a new high count of 694, shattering the previous record of 484.
Some notable misses this year include Great Blue Heron, Northern Harrier, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, Winter Wren, and Northern Shrike. Additional count week species include a Tufted Duck at the Causeway, a Green-winged Teal at the Burlington waterfront on Saturday, and a Turkey Vulture. Undoubtedly, this year's count was a resounding success, thanks in part to what I believe is a new record number (around 75) of participants.
Here is the complete tally of each species and the number of individuals seen:
Canada Goose - 624
Wood Duck - 3
American Black Duck - 144
Mallard - 931
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) - 1
Redhead - 4
Ring-necked Duck - 103
Greater Scaup - 3956
Lesser Scaup - 755
Greater/Lesser Scaup - 2061
Harlequin Duck - 1
White-winged Scoter - 1
Long-tailed Duck - 1
Bufflehead - 116
Common Goldeneye - 782
Hooded Merganser - 33
Common Merganser - 14
Red-breasted Merganser - 18
Duck sp. - 1
Wild Turkey - 31
Common Loon - 9
Horned Grebe - 10
Black Vulture - 19
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 8
Cooper's/Sharp-shinned - 1
Bald Eagle - 22
Red-tailed Hawk - 39
Rough-legged Hawk - 2
Buteo sp. - 1
Ring-billed Gull - 250
Herring Gull - 104
Great Black-backed Gull - 8
Gull sp. - 3
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) - 618
Mourning Dove - 100
Eastern Screech-Owl - 13
Great Horned Owl - 5
Barred Owl - 7
Northern Saw-whet Owl - 4
Belted Kingfisher - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 77
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 94
Hairy Woodpecker - 68
Northern Flicker - 20
Pileated Woodpecker - 27
American Kestrel - 1
Merlin - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Blue Jay - 274
American Crow - 2419
Fish Crow - 1
Common Raven - 50
Horned Lark - 43
Black-capped Chickadee - 792
Tufted Titmouse - 214
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 24
White-breasted Nuthatch - 182
Brown Creeper - 25
Carolina Wren - 49
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 7
Eastern Bluebird - 62
Hermit Thrush - 4
American Robin - 462
European Starling - 2211
Cedar Waxwing - 173
Lapland Longspur - 1
Snow Bunting - 326
American Tree Sparrow - 82
Dark-eyed Junco - 403
White-throated Sparrow - 46
Song Sparrow - 12
Northern Cardinal - 332
Red-winged Blackbird - 3
Common Grackle - 1
House Finch - 280
Purple Finch - 3
Pine Siskin - 1
American Goldfinch - 694
House Sparrow - 105
Thanks again to everyone who helped make this year a success. Save the date for next year's count on Sunday, December 20, 2026!
Cheers,
Larry Clarfeld, WBC Compiler