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Christmas bird count down from last year

The black-capped chickadee was the third most spotted bird during New Ulm's Dec. 15 Christmas Bird Count. This chickadee was spotted in the New Ulm City Cemetery. A total of 136 were seen during the day.

NEW ULM – A total of 1,448 birds were counted across 38 species during New Ulm’s 2024 Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

New Ulm CBC Compiler Brian Smith said these count totals were fairly typical for New Ulm, but the species count was down slightly from 43 last year.

Each year, area bird enthusiasts participate in the local bird count, cataloging different bird species in a 15-mile circle around New Ulm, with the intersection of Center and Broadway in the middle.

This year’s CBC took place on Sunday, Dec. 15. The count had originally been scheduled for Dec. 14, but hazardous weather delayed it a day. Smith said the weather on Dec. 15 was overcast with occasional light mist, and temperatures were in the low to mid-30s, cooler than last year.

Smith believed the total species count was down partly due to a lack of snow. Without the white snow as a backdrop, many species can blend into fields. Some common birds like the snow bunting, lapland longspur, horned lark and ringneck pheasant were not heavily spotted during this year’s count.

“With a lack of snow some birds are harder to find,” Smith said. “We know the birds are there but we can’t see them. They are in the fields unless they take off flying.”

Though some birds remained hidden, many of the most common birds were spotted. For the second year in a row, the rock pigeon was the most seen bird with 251 counted. The house sparrow was second with 181 counted; followed by the black-capped chickadee in third (136) and the dark-eyed junco in fourth (120).

Smith said these birds are relatively common during this time of year and are expected to be seen in large numbers. Most of these birds are permanent residents of south-central Minnesota, while birds like the junco typically migrate down from Canada every year.

In some cases, certain species migrate south out of south-central Minnesota but then will be replaced by birds migrating from further north. Smith gave the example of the blue jay. Many blue jays in the region will fly south for the winter but will be replaced by other blue jays coming from northern Minnesota or Canada. This year 63 blue jays were counted in the New Ulm area.

“It is always fun to see birds that are not usually in this area,” Smith said. Some of the rare birds cited included the mallard, gray partridge, northern harrier, belted kingfisher, cedar waxwing, golden-crowned kinglet, and barred owl.

Smith said the barred owl sightings were interesting because the birds were reported by two different parties at different locations.

Smith said participation in this year’s count included eight separate parties with 18 participants as field observers. Some of these field observers were walking but the majority were driving. Five parties participate as feeder watchers.

Smith said there were two parties that walked 11 miles. One group walked the trails at Flandrau State Park and another traveled the New Ulm bike trail.

The New CBC was one of thousands that occurred across North America between mid-December and mid-January. The bird counts are held in coordination with other counts across the country, and organized by the National Audubon Society (NAS).

All communities participating in the count will submit data to the NAS by February. The data for this year’s count and counts from past years will be available on the National Audubon Society website: https://www.audubon.org/community-science/christmas-bird-count.

Smith said the total count includes the total number of each species sighted. The list also includes species spotted within a week of the count, but were not spotted on Dec. 15. A rough-legged hawk and snow bunting were seen within the week of Dec. 15, but were not counted on the day of New Ulm CBC. This raises the number of species seen from 38 to 40.

The total for New Ulm’s bird count is listed below:

Rock Pigeon – 251

House Sparrow – 181

Black-capped Chickadee – 136

Dark-eyed Junco – 120

Blackbird species – 100

Canada Goose – 64

Blue Jay – 63

European Starling – 57

American Crow – 53

Downy Woodpecker – 45

Wild Turkey – 44

American Tree Sparrow – 43

White-breasted Nuthatch – 42

American Goldfinch – 37

Northern Cardinal – 31

House Finch – 27

Red-bellied Woodpecker – 21

Mourning Dove – 20

Hairy Woodpecker – 19

Brown Creeper – 12

Gray Partridge – 12

Mallard – 9

Bald Eagle – 9

Eurasian-collared Dove – 8

Red-tailed Hawk – 8

American Robin – 6

Cedar Waxwing – 5

Purple Finch – 5

Pileated Woodpecker – 4

American Kestrel – 3

Barred Owl – 2

Belted Kingfisher – 2

Northern Flicker – 2

Cooper’s Hawk – 2

Golden-crowned Kinglet – 2

Northern Harrier – 1

Northern Shrike – 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1

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