The Christmas Bird Count is a long-running, nationwide and worldwide effort to census wintering birds, sponsored by the National Audubon Society.
The Patagonia Christmas Bird Count was conducted on December 16, 2021. A total of 4,777 individual birds, of 127 species, were counted by 36 participants. Volunteers counted all the birds they saw or heard within a specified area, all located within a 15-mile diameter circle centered about 1/2 mile southeast of the junction of Harshaw Creek Rd and San Rafael Valley Road.
The most remarkable find of this year’s effort was the first recorded count of a rose-throated Becard. This is a bluebird-sized bird with a short tail, large head, and broad-based, stout bill that it uses to glean insects from dense foliage in trees in short flight sallies.
A tropical and subtropical bird with a breeding range that extends into the U.S. in only a few Arizona locations, this species has recently been found nesting along Sonoita Creek after being absent for several years. Individuals staying this late into the winter is a recent development. Only adult males have the pink throat patch that gives the species its name.
The individual found on the count was a female or immature bird, which is entirely a buffy orange color below and brown above with a contrasting dark brown cap. The becard was actually seen by two count parties, first in the morning in the town park, and then in the afternoon at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds (quite nearby as the becard flies – the odds of there being two birds involved is very small!)
Other unusual or difficult to find species tallied on the count include white-tailed kite, ruddy ground-dove, red-breasted sapsucker, Baird’s sparrow, and blue grosbeak.
While finding unusual birds is a fun aspect of the count, the information collected on all species becomes part of a large data set that helps determine trends and anomalies in bird populations. This year, for instance, the Christmas Bird Count helped document that pyrrhuloxia numbers were low, and lazuli bunting numbers were high.
Many thanks to all who participated, and to the private property owners who granted permission for counters to survey birds on their land.
Northern Shoveler 2
Gadwall 1
American Wigeon 2
Mallard 15
Mexican Duck 2
Green-winged Teal 5
Ring-necked Duck 26
Gambel’s Quail 7
Montezuma Quail 21
Wild Turkey 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove 21
Inca Dove 28
Common Ground-Dove 9
Ruddy Ground-Dove 2
White-winged Dove 160
Mourning Dove 365
Anna’s Hummingbird 9
Broad-billed Hummingbird 2
Violet-crowned Hummingbird 2
American Coot 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Wilson’s Snipe 2
Black Vulture 14
Turkey Vulture 3
White-tailed Kite 2
Golden Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 26
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper’s Hawk 4
Red-tailed Hawk 26
Spotted Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Acorn Woodpecker 24
Gila Woodpecker 107
Red-naped Sapsucker 16
Red-breasted Sapsucker 1
unidentified sapsucker 2
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 43
Arizona Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker 116
Gilded Flicker 1
American Kestrel 16
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Prairie Falcon 1
Cassin’s Kingbird 15
Hammond’s Flycatcher 6
Dusky Flycatcher 11
Hammond’s/Dusky Flycatcher 2
Gray Flycatcher 13
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 1
unidentified Empidonax 2
Vermilion Flycatcher 5
Rose-throated Becard 1
Loggerhead Shrike 2
Hutton”s Vireo 6
Cassin’s Vireo 2
Plumbeous Vireo 2
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay 1
Mexican Jay 109
Chihuahuan Raven 17
Common Raven 244
Unidentified Raven 13
Horned Lark 70
Bridled Titmouse 99
Verdin 12
Bushtit 87
White-breasted Nuthatch 71
Brown Creeper 2
Rock Wren 3
Canyon Wren 4
House Wren 11
Bewick’s Wren 40
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 153
Eastern Bluebird 1
Western Bluebird 63
Mountain Bluebird 4
Hermit Thrush 24
American Robin 2
Curve-billed Thrasher 17
Crissal Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 9
European Starling 1
Phainopepla 14
House Sparrow 22
House Finch 111
Lesser Goldfinch 97
Lawrence’s Goldfinch 3
Chestnut-collared Longspur 45
Green-tailed Towhee 33
Spotted Towhee 15
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 8
Canyon Towhee 14
Abert’s Towhee 35
Rufous-winged Sparrow 9
Chipping Sparrow 280
Brewer’s Sparrow 6
Vesper Sparrow 21
Lark Sparrow 32
Black-throated Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 175
Grasshopper Sparrow 12
Baird’s Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 16
Lincoln’s Sparrow 47
White-throated Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 281
Dark-eyed Junco 49
Eastern Meadowlark 55
unidentified meadowlard 5
Red-winged Blackbird 75
Brown-headed Cowbird 158
Brewer’s Blackbird 541
Orange-crowned Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 201
Black-throated Gray Warbler 10
Townsend’s Warbler 7
Wilson’s Warbler 1
Hepatic Tanager 2
Northern Cardinal 37
Pyrrhuloxia 6
Lazuli Bunting 45
Blue Grosbeak 1