SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
At least 15 different species were identified during the Christmas bird count last month, marking an all-time record for the annual Ecology North bird index.
A lone white-throated sparrow like this, spotted by Yellowknifer Walt Humphries last month, is the first of its species to be recorded during the annual Christmas bird count conducted Dec. 30. - photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons |
The common crow and the white-throated sparrow were spotted for the first time ever during the event, held Dec. 30, which also marked two rare sightings of the dark-eyed junco, which has only been seen once before in the capital city.
"This was truly an exceptional count for a variety of birds," said bird biologist and MLA Bob Bromley, who was among the 17 participants in this past year's count.
The previous Christmas bird count record of 14 species was achieved four times in the past, in 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2006.
Bromley attributes the increase in species spotted during this bird count to a bird-feeding tradition that he says is developing more and more in the North, in addition to communication technology such as Facebook, which people are using to alert bird watchers of species sightings that they can check up on during the count.
Both species that were spotted for the first time - the common crow and the white-throated sparrow - were sighted in the Gitzel Street yard of prospector and Tales from the Dump columnist Walt Humphries, who is among the increasing number of Northerners regularly putting out bird feed.
"I always figure helping the birds through the winter is not a bad thing," Humphries said. "It's pretty tough on them up here."
Humphries believes a series of relatively mild winters may also be a factor in the record variety of species spotted during the annual bird count, in addition to a cyclical effect of more birds hanging around, leading to more predatory birds extending their range.
"The species are always extending their range as far as they can," he said.
A 10 C drop in the temperature during this bird count, to -26 C to -27 C, from -14 C to -18 C in 2011, may have contributed to a lower total count of birds this time.
While there was more variety this time in terms of species, the absolute number of birds counted was a couple hundred lower, at nearly 2,700 birds, compared to more than 2,900 during the 2011 bird count.
The decline was partly due to fewer willow ptarmigans, which are at a low point in their 10-year cycle, with 115 of the ptarmigan spotted in 2012 compared to 252 in 2011.
The count, encompassing a roughly 24-km diameter circle centred on 50 Street and Franklin Avenue, will likely continue to hold the highest number of ptarmigan and ravens in North America, Bromley said.
The number of ravens spotted last month remained about the same as the 2011 Christmas bird count of about 2,220, after a drop from more than 2,613 ravens counted in 2010.
2012 Christmas bird count
Numbers in brackets indicate 2011 figures
Common raven - 2,220 (2,221)
Common crow - 1 (0)
Black-billed magpie - 82 (39)
Gray jay - 9 (8)
Willow ptarmigan - 115 (252)
Boreal chickadee - 7 (1)
Spruce grouse - 1 (0)
Three-toed woodpecker - 2 (0)
Hairy woodpecker - 2 (0)
Dark-eyed junco - 2 (0)
White-crowned sparrow - 1 (0)
White-winged crossbill - 4 (0)
White-throated sparrow - 1 (0)
Common redpoll - 42 (39)
Hoary redpoll - 27 (116)
Redpoll unidentified species - 171 (132)
Source: Bob Bromley
