The 53rd annual Miami (Dade County) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 17. On count day, 43 participants counted 15,019 birds of 130 species. Compared with 2021, there were 1,124 less birds counted but 8 more species. Of the 130 species, 121 are on the official Florida state bird list and are considered “countable,” while the remaining nine are not on the state bird list and are thus not considered “countable.”
The 2022 CBC added two species not previously recorded on this count: Black-legged Kittiwake and Least Flycatcher. The kittiwake was found in offshore waters within the CBC circle by the team led by Roberto Torres. Thanks to Capt. Torres for his photo of the kittiwake. The flycatcher was found at Flamingo Park on Miami Beach by Luis Gonzalez and Brian Rapoza.
Other unusual species recorded on the count included two Red-throated Loons and a Louisiana Waterthrush. The loons were found offshore, again by the team led by Roberto Torres. This was only the second time that this species has been recorded on the count; the first time was in 1997. The waterthrush was found at Greynolds Park by the team led by John Boyd. This species has been recorded at Greynolds Park several times in recent count history; if this trend continues, it’s designation as “unusual” will come to an end.
New high counts were recorded for only two species this year: Bonaparte’s Gull and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Twenty-two Bonaparte’s were tallied this year, beating the previous high of 18 in 1980. All 22 were found offshore, again by the team led by Roberto Torres. Twenty-six sapsuckers were tallied this year, beating the previous high of 22 in 2011. Ten different teams contributed sapsucker sightings to this new high count.
Thanks to the following teams for their assistance during the count (team leaders listed first):
Downtown Miami – Bob Pace, Alice Pace, Jeanette Rawls
El Portal – Stephen Paez, Omar Paez
Fisher Island – Joe Barros
Hialeah – Rachel DePietro, Jared Schiller
Greynold’s Park - John Boyd, Nancy Freedman, Debbie Jones, Greg Jones
Little Havana/MIA - Dennis Olle, Miriam Avello, Leigh Emerson Smith, James Jones, Richard Goldberg, Erica Rochelle, Jared Schiller
Miami Beach – Brian Rapoza, Luis Gonzalez, Federico Acevedo
Miami Shores/North Miami - Andrea Diamond, Liz Gushee, Betty Hernandez, Jeanne Kaufmann, Michelle Louden
Miami Springs – Jessica Castillo
Offshore - Roberto Torres, Alberto Hernandez, Chris Haddon
Oleta River State Park - Liz Golden, Nasim Mahomar, Leigh Buckner, Deysi Tobar, Nicole Ferronato, Charles Smith
Opa-Locka - Fritz (Boch) Hoeflein, Gregory Hamlin, Joe Montes de Oca, Steve Woodmansee
Virginia Key – Bill Boeringer, Lorena Siqueira
Backyard/Neighborhood – Bonnie O’Meara
Following are the totals for each species (non-countable species in italics):
Graylag Goose (Domestic type) - 16
Canada Goose (feral) - 1
Egyptian Goose - 120
Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) - 350
Mottled Duck - 16
Blue-winged Teal - 26
Ring-necked Duck - 16
Red-breasted Merganser - 4
*Helmeted Guineafowl (Domestic type) - 4 *
Indian Peafowl (Domestic type) - 17
Red-throated Loon - 2
Common Loon - 1
Pied-billed Grebe - 19
American Flamingo (Hialeah Park flock) - 132
Wood Stork - 59
Magnificent Frigatebird - 7
Northern Gannet - 6
Double-crested Cormorant - 735
Anhinga - 27
Brown Pelican - 200
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) - 27
Great Egret - 48
Snowy Egret - 9
Little Blue Heron - 13
Tricolored Heron - 7
Reddish Egret - 1
Cattle Egret - 220
Green Heron - 34
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 9
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 9
White Ibis - 2600
Black Vulture - 93
Turkey Vulture - 640
Osprey - 18
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Cooper’s Hawk - 6
Red-shouldered Hawk - 10
Broad-winged Hawk - 2
Short-tailed Hawk - 6
Red-tailed Hawk - 3
Common Gallinule - 110
American Coot - 88
Limpkin - 3
Black-bellied Plover - 300
Wilson’s Plover - 1
Semipalmated Plover - 135
Piping Plover - 12
Killdeer - 2
Spotted Sandpiper - 12
Willet - 2
Ruddy Turnstone - 23
Sanderling - 170
Least Sandpiper - 10
Western Sandpiper - 2
Short-billed Dowitcher - 15
Wilson’s Snipe - 1
Black-legged Kittiwake - 1
Bonaparte’s Gull - 22
Laughing Gull - 1125
Ring-billed Gull - 135
Herring Gull - 33
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 18
Royal Tern - 87
Sandwich Tern - 10
Black Skimmer - 96
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) - 630
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 425
Common Ground-Dove - 1
White-winged Dove - 19
Mourning Dove - 160
Eastern Screech-Owl - 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 14
Belted Kingfisher - 19
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 110
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 26
Downy Woodpecker - 9
American Kestrel - 52
Merlin - 4
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Monk Parakeet - 55
*Yellow-chevroned Parakeet - 29 *
*Orange-winged Parrot - 15 *
*Chestnut-fronted Macaw - 10 *
Blue-crowned Parakeet - 19
Mitred Parakeet - 16
*Red-masked Parakeet - 32 *
White-eyed Parakeet - 140
Least Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 14
Great Crested Flycatcher - 5
Loggerhead Shrike - 25
White-eyed Vireo - 3
Yellow-throated Vireo - 2
Blue-headed Vireo - 8
Blue Jay - 180
Fish Crow - 1460
House Wren - 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 200
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Gray Catbird - 44
Northern Mockingbird - 200
European Starling - 1300
Common Myna - 5
Ovenbird - 3
Worm-eating Warbler - 2
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 4
Black-and-white Warbler - 35
Orange-crowned Warbler - 5
Common Yellowthroat - 13
American Redstart - 16
Cape May Warbler - 4
Northern Parula - 60
Magnolia Warbler - 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 6
Palm Warbler - 430
Pine Warbler - 13
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 420
Yellow-throated Warbler - 25
Prairie Warbler - 35
Black-throated Green Warbler - 3
Savannah Sparrow - 2
Summer Tanager - 4
Northern Cardinal - 90
Painted Bunting - 18
Eastern Meadowlark - 2
Common Grackle - 200
Boat-tailed Grackle - 330
Spot-breasted Oriole - 9
House Sparrow - 120
Black-legged Kittiwake: Photo by Roberto Torres