On December 26, 2021, the Kendall Christmas Bird Count tallied 139 species, plus another 12 exotics. We also had 5 more species during Count Week (Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Duck, Clay-colored Sparrow and Bullock’s Oriole). The full list is at the bottom of this report.
Four species were new for the Count– a continuing Swainson’s Warbler, located by Roberto Torres, Sanderling (it seems hard to believe that this common bird has never been tallied before, but there are few areas of sandy beach – where this bird is expected - in the Circle), and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, photographed by Rachael Peck & Kibby Treiber of the Zoo Miami Crew (we’ve had pheucticus grosbeaks three times before, but never documented as to species). The Clay-colored Sparrow found and photographed by Carlos Sanchez was also new, but for Count Week only.
Among the day’s other highlights were a Western Tanager found by Noah Frade, a Nashville Warbler, 2 Least Flycatchers tallied by Roberto Torres and Miriam Avello, respectively, 2 Blue Grosbeaks, found by Michelle Davis/Jackie Guzy and Noah Frade, respectively, and Rufous Hummingbird courtesy of Luis Gonzalez.
The Kendall Count is “Where America’s Warblers Winter”, and this year was no different. We totaled 22 species of warblers for the day. Our count routinely leads the nation in certain numbers of neotropical migrants, and this year we broke many of our own records. We had new Count highs for Ovenbird (31, old record 28), Black-and-white Warbler (144, old record 111 from last year), Cape May Warbler (25, old record 13), Northern Parula (189, old record 156 from last year), Magnolia Warbler (13, old record 10), Black-throated Blue Warbler (50, old record 33 from last year), Palm Warbler (651, old record 530), Yellow-throated Warbler (93, old record 70 from last year), and Prairie Warbler (161, old record 114 from last year)!
Other neotropical migrant record numbers were Ruby-throated Hummingbird (129, old record 122), White-eyed Vireo (24, old record 14), Yellow-throated Vireo (38, old record 22), Blue-headed Vireo (80, old record 66), House Wren (23, old record 19), Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (751, old record 621 from last year), Gray Catbird (271, old record 194), and Painted Bunting (82, old record 63).
It was not only neotropicals that tallied good numbers We also had new Count high numbers for Egyptian Goose, Common Ground-Dove, Chuck-will’s-widow, Short-tailed Hawk, King Rail, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Fish Crow, House Sparrow, and Northern Cardinal.
On a low note, the sorry downward trend of available marsh-type habitat for freshwater ducks and non-coastal shorebirds continues, and these birds are simply disappearing from the Circle. Aside from ubiquitous Muscovy Ducks and Egyptian Geese, we had only 70 Blue-winged Teal (all from the Dump Marsh area), 2 Mottled Ducks, and 1 American Wigeon. Ring-necked Duck was missed altogether for only the second time, but alarmingly this was the 2nd time in 3 years, with only 6 seen in 2019. Least Sandpiper was missed for the second straight year, after having been seen on 16 of the first 17 counts. Likewise, both Wilson’s Snipe and Long-billed Dowitcher were missed, with both having been seen on 14 of 17 previous counts. We also reported only 2 Greater Yellowlegs and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs.
On the day after Christmas, with warm temperatures and Omicron-Variant issues, we had good participation from local birders. It would be great if we could encourage more backyard birders to simply provide yard/feeder lists – those that did provided species that helped push up our overall numbers. Who knows where we could be if more people in Coral Gables, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, and Kendall would spend just one hour surveying their yards and feeders!
Thank you to all who participated this year: Andrea Diamond, Angel Abreu, Bill Kaufman, Billy Abbott, Bonnie Masdeu, Carlos Sanchez, Daria Feinstein, Eliana Kramer Ardila, Elsa Alvear, Frank Ridgely and the Zoo Crew (Allison Huss, Ezequiel Bugallo, Gina Carranza, Grant Fischer, Kibby Treiber, Kris Kadlac, Larry Hambree, Nancy Hambree, Rachael Peck, Russell Martin, and Steven Whitfield) Glenn Huberman, Hans Gozembach, Jack Crittenden, Jackie Guzy, James Gersing, Jeanette Alvarez, Jeanette Rawls, Jeanne Kaufman, Jeff Weber, Joe Barros, Joe Montes De Oca, Jorge Wolfe, Judd Patterson, Kevin Sarsfield, Lois Blankstein, Luis Gonzalez, Mariel Abreu, Mark Kramer, Marta Magellan, Michelle Davis, Mike Judge, Miriam Avello, Morgan Slevin, Nahuel Medina, Nico Salino, Noah Frade, Omar Paez, Rita Ventura, Roberto Torres, Roxanne Featherly, Ryan Bermudez, Silvia Bermudez, Stephen Paez, Steve Woodmansee, Troy Henderson, and Wendy Teas. We hope you will all be able to join us again next year!
Indian Peafowl 98
Pied-billed Grebe 33
Wood Stork 58
Double-crested Cormorant 121
Anhinga 42
American White Pelican 15
Brown Pelican 36
Great Blue Heron 28
Great Egret 104
Snowy Egret 13
Little Blue Heron 32
Tricolored Heron 30
Cattle Egret 360
Green Heron 18
Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 13
White Ibis 2200
Glossy Ibis 17
Black Vulture 88
Turkey Vulture 4000
Osprey 31
White-tailed Kite 4
Northern Harrier 7
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5
Cooper’s Hawk 11
Bald Eagle 9
Red-shouldered Hawk 28
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Short-tailed Hawk 22
Red-tailed Hawk 6
King Rail 11
Common Gallinule 120
American Coot 113
Limpkin 2
Black-bellied Plover 2
Semipalmated Plover 16
Killdeer 43
Spotted Sandpiper 7
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Ruddy Turnstone 24
Sanderling 9
Laughing Gull 2400
Ring-billed Gull 395
Herring Gull 12
Lesser Black-backed Gull 96
Royal Tern 19
Rock Pigeon 440
White-crowned Pigeon 16
Eurasian Collared-Dove 395
Common Ground-Dove 21
White-winged Dove 30
Mourning Dove 290
Barn Owl 3
Eastern Screech-Owl 21
Burrowing Owl 8
Barred Owl 1
Chuck-will’s-widow 3
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 129
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 222
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 36
Downy Woodpecker 15
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
American Kestrel 62
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 2
Monk Parakeet 33
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet 147
Red-crowned Parrot 3
Lilac-crowned Parrot 19
Yellow-headed Parrot 20
White-fronted Parrot 1
Orange-winged Parrot 100
Nanday Parakeet 15
Blue-and-yellow Macaw 14
Chestnut-fronted Macaw 26
Mitred Parakeet 380
Red-masked Parakeet 127
Mitred/Red-masked Parakeet 23
Least Flycatcher 2
Eastern Phoebe 72
Great Crested Flycatcher 18
Loggerhead Shrike 42
White-eyed Vireo 24
Yellow-throated Vireo 38
Blue-headed Vireo 80
Blue Jay 350
Fish Crow 1520
Cave Swallow 8
House Wren 23
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 755
Red-whiskered Bulbul 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Gray Catbird 275
Brown Thrasher 3
Northern Mockingbird 330
Common Hill Myna 12
European Starling 770
Common Myna 17
Ovenbird 31
Worm-eating Warbler 5
Northern Waterthrush 4
Black-and-white Warbler 144
Swainson’s Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 7
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 62
American Redstart 65
Cape May Warbler 25
Northern Parula 189
Magnolia Warbler 13
Yellow Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 50
Palm Warbler 651
Pine Warbler 85
Yellow-rumped Warbler 140
Yellow-throated Warbler 93
Prairie Warbler 161
Black-throated Green Warbler 20
Wilson’s Warbler 1
Grasshopper Sparrow 2
Clay-colored Sparrow cw
Savannah Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 1
Summer Tanager 4
Western Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 212
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 4
Painted Bunting 82
Red-winged Blackbird 128
Eastern Meadowlark 10
Common Grackle 615
Boat-tailed Grackle 540
Bronzed Cowbird 9
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Bullock’s Oriole CW
Spot-breasted Oriole 5
Baltimore Oriole 3
House Finch 5
House Sparrow 205
Scaly-breasted Munia 45