Bronx-Westchester Christmas Bird Count
100th Bronx-Westchester Christmas Bird Count
This year’s count was held on Saturday, December 23, 2023.
The Bronx-Westchester CBC celebrated its 100th count. The count’s lineage goes back to the 1924 count started by the famed Bronx County Bird Club. The count found 121 species plus 4 count week and tallied 35,354 birds.
Highlights included two new species for the count. A MacGillivray’s Warbler was found in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and two Ash-throated Flycatchers, one in the southern section of Pelham Bay Park, one in Mount Vernon. The cumulative species for the count now stands at 236.
Other highlights were Cackling Goose, Surf and White-winged Scoters, 3 Red-necked Grebe, 2 Semipalmated Plover (4th count record), Iceland Gull, Clapper and Virginia Rails, 5 Great Egret in 4-5 locations, including Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers and a flyover in Hastings-on-Hudson, Red-headed Woodpecker in Marshlands Conservancy, 4 Chipping Sparrows, Baltimore Oriole at a Yonkers feeder, 7 Orange-crowned Warbler (also a new high count), Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Palm Warbler.
New high counts were 81 Wild Turkey (75 in 2007) and 76 Common Loon (65 in 2020)
We had 20-year highs for; Clapper Rail, Killdeer, Eastern Screech-Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Pipit, House Finch, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. We had a 20-year low for Black-capped Chickadee.
Only one Canvasback, a male in the Hudson off the Beczak Environmental Education Center and one Northern Pintail were found.
Count week birds included Greater White-fronted Goose, Black Vulture, Clay-colored Sparrow, and Cape May Warbler (never seen on the count)
Misses include Snow Goose. Ruddy Turnstone, and Dunlin.
Here is the full breakdown of the numbers. Thanks all who helped on the count.
NEXT YEAR’s COUNT will be SUNDAY, December 22, 2024 (note: the next National Audubon CBC will have four available weekends)
Michael Bochnik
Bronx-Westchester CBC Compiler
What is a Christmas Bird Count?
Christmas Bird Counts originated out of a Christmas Day custom of the "Side Hunt". Hunters would choose sides, and the winning team was the one which brought back the largest number of feathered or furred creatures - dead. At the start of the 20th century, the decline of formerly abundant species, like the Passenger Pigeon and the Carolina Parakeet, became deeply concerning. Frank M. Chapman, an ornithologist and an officer in the nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new tradition: instead of killing birds, they would be counted. So began, in 1900, the first Christmas Bird Count. In 1900, 27 people tallied birds in 25 places across North America. In 2020, over 80,000 people participated, both in the field and at feeders, from all over the Western Hemisphere. It is National Audubon's largest citizen science project, providing invaluable information on bird species, their populations and distribution.
Our Christmas Bird Count, the Bronx-Westchester CBC, was started in 1924 by the Bronx County Bird Club. Over the years, the count circle has expanded geographically; it's now divided into seven regional areas, each with a leader and a team of observers. Birds at feeders are also included in the totals. At the end of the day, the results are compiled at the count dinner.
Most counts are no longer held on Christmas Day, but from December 14 to January 5th.
Upcoming Dates for the Bronx Westchester Christmas Bird Count
Sunday December 22, 2024
Sunday, December 28, 2025