Cold weather impacts annual bird count
Second lowest numbers tallied in Fort Smith since 1999
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, January 12, 2015
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
A relatively low number of birds were spotted in Fort Smith during the annual Christmas Bird Count, which is part of an international conservation effort.
Sharon Irwin is the organizer of the annual Christmas Bird Count in Fort Smith. - NNSL file photo |
However, Sharon Irwin, the organizer of the count, said there is no need to worry about this year's numbers.
She said the low tally – 298 – was because cold temperatures that hit below -25 C and a harsh wind on the count day of Jan. 2 kept the number of participants low.
Even the birds were less active because of the cold, she said.
"The birds weren't moving around. When I talked to the other birders, they said they were really just seeing them clustered around bird feeders," said Irwin.
Figures for the Christmas Bird Count in Fort Smith go back to 1999.
During that time, the highest number counted was 1,373 in 2011 and the lowest number was 273 in 2005.
Last Christmas, 13 different species were counted in the community for a total of 460 birds.
Only about six people turned out for the recent count, compared to 19 last Christmas.
One of the participants in this year's count was Terry Armstrong, who said he enjoys being part of the initiative because it's an example of citizen science.
"It's good to contribute to conservation efforts."
The count can be held any time in a window from mid-December to Jan. 5.
Twelve different species were spotted in the latest count.
"That's a little bit below the average since we've been doing it," said Irwin.
The average number of species counted since 1999 is 13, she said.
The numbers from the survey day included many birds of undetermined exact species, including two woodpeckers, 10 grosbeaks, 10 chickadees and 75 redpolls, along with three hairy woodpeckers, 25 evening grosbeaks, 15 pine grosbeaks, 23 common redpolls, seven hoary redpolls, 11 boreal chickadees, 24 black-capped chickadees, six gray jays and 87 common ravens.
Despite the low number of birds spotted, there were some interesting findings in this year's count.
Under the rules of the count, people are allowed to record sightings from three days before and three days after of species that weren't spotted during the survey.
This year, additional species sighted at bird feeders during the so-called "count week" include a downy woodpecker, a black-billed magpie and a Harris' sparrow.
Irwin said magpies are relatively rare in Fort Smith, despite being common in Hay River.
"I think they have been seen on the survey twice before," she said. "There might be a pair that are living in town, but they're it."
Irwin also pointed to the Harris' sparrow as another interesting species.
"They don't breed here. They come through in the spring and the fall, and they breed further north," she said, adding it's a strange time of year for the bird to still be in the Fort Smith area.
The bird most commonly seen during this year's survey was the redpoll, a small brown and white bird that often has red emblazoned on the tops of their heads and chests.
Birders counted 105 redpolls, compared with 87 common ravens.
The results of the count are submitted to an international database on trends of early-winter bird populations throughout the Americas.
The annual initiative began 114 years ago in the United States. Each count takes place in an established area of 24 km in diameter.
The collected data helps ornithologists and conservation biologists determine how the birds of the Americas are faring.
The Christmas Bird Count has been held in Fort Smith almost every winter since the late 1980s.
Other Christmas Bird Counts in the NWT take place in Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, Hay River and Yellowknife.
