Last week’s Itasca State Park Winter Bird Count added a brand new species to the checklist that had not been noticed in any of the earlier counts: the various thrush.
Itasca State Park naturalist Connie Cox was the chicken rely coordinator.
“We were finally able to add the varied thrush as a new bird seen on the winter bird count,” she stated. “The bird had been seen during past winters, but never showed up for the actual count day.”
According to the North American Bird Breeding Survey, the inhabitants of the various thrush species has declined by almost 75% since 1966.
The diverse thrush primarily lives within the Pacific Northwest and breeds and nests alongside from the California coast to British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Alaska. Some birds migrate to the east in winter, however the chicken is seldom seen in Minnesota.
Cox stated the climate for this yr’s chicken rely was vastly completely different from final yr’s.
Contributed / Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
“This year, our day started with an air temperature of 19 degrees above zero with the high reaching 34 degrees,” Cox stated. “In 2022, the morning started at a very cold 18 degrees below zero and reached a high of only 11 degrees below zero.”
In 2022, the snow depth was 22 inches. This yr’s rely was accomplished totally on naked floor, though some shaded areas within the woods had as much as 1/4 inch of snow.
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“The snow-free conditions made it easier to get into some of the area bogs,” Cox stated. “Two black-backed woodpeckers being seen in an area with recently dead tamaracks. The last report of black-backed woodpeckers was in 2017.”
Overall, with the delicate temperatures and comparatively snow-free floor, Cox stated it was more durable for counters to search out groupings of birds.
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“Exposed ground allowed birds to feed dispersed throughout the forest,” she stated. “As low as count numbers appeared, when put on paper there were 29 species seen. But 2023 will go down in the record books for the second most individual birds seen (1,489). The count in 1973 still ranks number one for total individual birds with 1,936 birds reported.
“However, the 18 people that were out counting this year should feel good about their efforts. In 1973, there were 65 people counting and they saw 31 species.”
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More birds are wintering right here
“Many of our northern birds are coming in higher numbers, similar to totals seen in the 1970s,” Cox stated. These are a few of the totals Cox shared from this yr’s rely.
- 2023 marks the second-highest rely for snow buntings reported on the Itasca State Park rely with 120 birds. The winter of 1976 was greater with 200 birds reported.
- Dark-eyed juncos got here in with the third-highest rely yr with 12 birds reported. (The 2007 rely had 13 juncos reported and the 1976 rely had the all-time highest with 58 juncos reported.)
- Both purple crossbills and white-winged crossbills made their look on the rely this yr. The final time each species have been seen on the rely was in 2015.
- Pine grosbeaks simply arrived in time for the winter chicken rely with 5 birds being seen.
- Both frequent redpolls (300) and hoary redpolls (two) have been reported. The 2023 rely marks the fourth-highest rely yr for frequent redpolls. The highest counts return to the Nineteen Seventies with 482 birds reported in 1977, 484 in 1975 and 561 in 1973.
- Purple finches had their second-highest numbers reported with 57 people. 1979 got here in highest with 104 birds reported.
- Pine siskins had their seventh-highest rely this yr with 95 birds counted. Higher numbers have been reported within the mid-Nineteen Seventies and early 2000s.
- American goldfinches had their sixth-highest yr (104 birds) with most of the greater rely years being within the early 2000s.
- Finally, the home sparrows had their highest exhibiting for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, transferring the 2023 rely quantity into sixth place. This yr, 61 birds have been seen. The highest rely was in 1974 with 115 birds.
Blue jays at an all-time excessive
Cox stated the corvid (crow) household of birds had an excellent exhibiting at this yr’s rely.
“The 2023 count was an all-time high count for blue jays, with 204 birds seen,” she stated. “The second-closest year was 2019 with 197 birds.”
Black-billed magpies got here in at 12 birds, making this the third-highest rely yr for this chicken species, tying with 1975 for 12 birds. In 2019 there have been 27 magpies and in 2020 there have been 17.
American crows seen in 2023 tied with 2004 with 45 birds. This marks the third-highest quantity seen. The most seen was in 2021 with 82 birds, adopted by 2017 with 48 birds.
Ruffed grouse got here in because the third-highest rely quantity with 21 birds seen. In 1980, 27 birds have been reported, and 25 in 1974.
Hairy woodpeckers had an excellent exhibiting with 21 birds seen, making this the third-highest quantity for the reason that counts began in 1972. The highest rely yr was 24 furry woodpeckers in 1974, adopted by 23 birds in 1979.
Bald eagles additionally had an excellent exhibiting this yr with 10 birds reported. This locations them on the fourth-highest rely yr, tying with 2015 and 2007. The highest numbers of bald eagles on Itasca State Park Counts have been 20 birds in 2019, adopted by 16 in 2021 and 13 in 2022.
Red-bellied woodpeckers have been seen on each rely since 2014. The first notation of the looks of a red-bellied woodpecker was in 1999, and it was thought of an uncommon species on the time. The highest variety of red-bellied woodpeckers seen was 9 in 2020. This yr, three have been counted.
Lorie Skarpness has lived within the Park Rapids space since 1997 and has been writing for the Park Rapids Enterprise since 2017. She enjoys writing options in regards to the folks and wildlife who name the north woods home.
