January 6, 2009
Starting my 2009 Iowa bird list
What I look forward to most about a new year is the start of a new Iowa “year” list of birds.
The Iowa bird checklist shows that 420 species of birds have been seen in the state. However, that’s 420 bird species over a number of years, not 420 bird species every year. Of those 420 species, the Iowa Ornithologists Union splits the species into 3 main categories:
Regular = seen every year or nearly every year, at least 8 of last 10 years (306 species)
Casual = seen many years but not all, at least 3 and less than 9 of last 10 years (26 species)
Accidental = seen once to several times, but less than 4 of last 10 years (84 species)
In theory, this means that if you go out birding a lot and cover all corners of the state, you have a good chance of seeing 306 species each year (the “regulars”) and maybe more if you can find some “casuals” or “accidentals”.
Dedicated birders in the state set 300 as the goal to reach each year, but very few actually make it to 300. It takes a lot of time to bird the entire state each year. My highest so far was 297, but that was an exceptional year for me. Generally I find between 250-275 bird species each year.
So I began my quest for 300 this year by doing a little bit of local birding on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. After 2 days of birding, my 2009 Iowa list is 36 species — I have a long way to go to reach 300 but lots of fun birding ahead!
A few of the birds I most enjoyed seeing at the start of this year are listed below:
Rough-legged Hawk
The Rough-legged Hawk is my favorite of all the hawks. It comes south from the Arctic and other northern climes during the winter. Since most of Iowa’s summer birds flee the state during the fall for warmer climates, I am very partial to a bird that actually thinks Iowa is the place to be during the winter.
The Rough-legged Hawk can easily be identified by the large black “wrist patches”, shown in this photo from the Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter.
It is less common in Iowa in the winter than the more familiar Red-tailed Hawk.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Another winter treat that I saw on Jan. 2 was the tiny Northern Saw-Whet Owl. This little owl is very cute, but don’t be mistaken by its cuteness quotient. It’s a hunter through and through.
Finding an owl takes patience and some knowledge of the particular habitat that species of owl likes. Once you’re in the correct habitat, look under the trees for owl droppings and regurgitated pellets.
The little Saw-whet that I saw on Friday had a good-sized area of droppings directly underneath it. After I saw the droppings, I knew just where in the tree to look for the owl, and sure enough, there it sat on a high branch, calmly watching me with those big owl eyes in that small owl body.
Saw-whets are not particularly spooky owls and usually will stay put on a tree branch and allow you to observe them. Most owls fly out of a tree long before you have a chance to approach them.
Northern shrike
Another beautiful bird that winters in Iowa is the Northern Shrike. Birds with black and white feather patterns are particularly pretty, I think. Shrikes are known for their behavior of storing prey on thorns or other sharp items.
I usually find shrikes perching on top of small trees, although once or twice I’ve seen them on telephone wires. They move around their territory and are sometimes hard to find in the same location a second time, although they may be in the general vicinity still. I always feel lucky when I come across one.
What have you seen so far this year? What are your favorite winter birds? Please share in the comments section.
December 2, 2008
Get ready, it’s time to count birds
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- Canada Goose
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- American Crow
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- Northern Cardinal
Christmas Bird Counts — that’s why!
The 2008 Christmas Bird Count season officially starts on Dec. 14 and runs through January 5. All around the country birders will be out during this time period, carefully plotting their routes, staying inside the official “count circle” for their area, and scouring every nook and cranny for birds.
On CBC day, every bird counts. Not only do you count the number of bird species you find, you count the number of birds of that species as well. See 1 cardinal? Check. See another cardinal? Another check. Count every bird as best as you are able to estimate the flock size.
Certain birds appear in large numbers in Iowa. American Crows, Canada Geese, House Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, Mallards, Mourning Doves, Dark-eyed Juncos and European Starlings were the most-counted birds on the 2007 Iowa City CBC. (See results for past Iowa City CBCs here.)
Some CBCs have a friendly competition to see which can find the highest number of bird species. Generally, a CBC that has an open water source (such as a reservoir or a large river) will have a higher number of species since the waterfowl will flock to the open water.
Dedicated birders start their day before dawn with “owling” — checking habitat that should support owls and listening for the owls to call before the owls settle in for the day. On CBCs, you can count “heard” birds as well as “seen” birds.
Those of us who want to sleep just a little later still start the day at first light to search for birds. Birds, as a general rule, are more active during the morning hours than afternoon.
And birders who want to participate but don’t want to go outside can monitor their feeders and turn in their feeder reports.
The CBCs are sponsored by Audubon — you can read all about them here. The web site tells the history of the CBCs, how CBC information is used to monitor bird populations, how to get in contact with your local Audubon chapter, etc.
The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union maintains a web site that lists all Iowa CBCs, including contact information. You can find that web site here.
Locally, the Iowa City Bird Club has information about their CBC here.
So let the games begin. On Dec. 14 I’ll be out with the Iowa City Bird Club counting birds. And on Dec. 20 I’ll be out again with the Cedar Rapids Audubon group.
I can’t wait! It’s a highlight of the winter birding season for me.
