Central Mass Bird Census Archives, 2001
Central Mass Bird Update homepage.
This is an archive of bird census data from breeding bird surveys, Christmas Counts, or other comprehensive bird surveys in central Massachusetts. To contribute, you can email to rsquimby@wpi.edu or call Rick Quimby at (508) 835-6567 for information on how to submit the census data.
The detailed totals by species:
Red-throated Loon 1 (found by Bart Kamp at the Waushacums)
Common Loon 12
Horned Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Canada Goose 880
Mute Swan 8
Wood Duck 6
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 18
American Black Duck 119
Mallard 944
Northern Shoveler 2
Green-winged Teal 4
Ring-necked Duck 81
Tufted Duck 1
Greater Scaup 44
Lesser Scaup 2
Bufflehead 5
Common Goldeneye 132
Hooded Merganser 197
Common Merganser 237
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5
Cooper's Hawk 4
Red-tailed Hawk 43
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 1
Ruffed Grouse 3
Wild Turkey 23
American Coot 11
Ring-billed Gull 2129
Herring Gull 121
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Rock Dove 1360
Mourning Dove 293
Eastern Screech-owl 4
Great Horned Owl 6
Barred Owl 1
Northern Saw-whet Owl 2
Belted Kingfisher 7
Red-bellied Woodpecker 29
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 115
Hairy Woodpecker 17
Northern Flicker 8
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Blue Jay 482
American Crow 1453
Horned Lark 12
Black-capped Chickadee 922
Tufted Titmouse 335
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 198
Brown Creeper 17
Carolina Wren 10
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 44
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 16
Hermit Thrush 3
American Robin 104
Northern Mockingbird 44
European Starling 2765
Bohemian Waxwing 2 found by Rodney Jenkins in a flock
of Cedar Waxwings off I-190
Cedar Waxwing 298
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
American Tree Sparrow 154
Field Sparrow 4
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 51
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 58
Dark-eyed Junco 476
Snow Bunting 15
Northern Cardinal 122
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 (female found by Brad Blodget coming
to a feeder in Northboro)
Red-winged Blackbird 9
Common Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Pine Grosbeak 1
House Finch 184
Common Redpoll 3
American Goldfinch 231
Evening Grosbeak 5
House Sparrow 1444
**This year's count broke all previous years total species high with 87
species)
(report from Paul Meleski and Fran McMenemy).
Despite foul weather, 46 hale and hardy folks hit the ponds, fields, and
feeders on Tuesday. The large ponds were still completely open. There was
only a trace of snow on the ground. The food crop was very spotty and local,
often crab apples being the only offering for winter frugivores in most
areas. Consequently, species like waxwings and robisn were in low numbers.
Asterisked (**) species=new species for the count; all CAPS=new high count.
Eleven of the 60 species found were confirmed as breeding; some at
the nest, some as fledglings, some when adults were seen carrying
food to a nest. On a previous survey on June 10, 1990 the SSBC had
confirmed as breeding birds 8 of 70 species found.
In the following table comparative figures for the two surveys are listed
as 2001/1990 with those species confirmed indicated by a *.
Pied-billed Grebe (cw)
Horned Grebe (1)
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Great Blue Heron (2: on the low side)
Mute Swan (1)
Canada Goose (1288)
Wood Duck (1)
A. Black Duck (121)
Mallard (943)
**N. PINTAIL (4: 3 in Spencer, 1 in Brimfield, all drakes)
N. Shoveler (1f)
RING-NECKED DUCK (22)
Buffelhead (1)
C. Goldeneye (8)
HOODED MERGANSER (125)
COMMON MERGANSER (1019: I watched a good number of these birds at Lake
Wickaboag feeding furiously on some type of large fish (Perch?) and being
constantly kleptoparasitized by Ring-billed Gulls)
Ruddy Duck (6)
Bald Eagle (2ad: a pair built a nest at Lake Quaboag this summer, but laid no
eggs)
N. Harrier (1)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (4)
Cooper's Hawk (2)
"accipiter sp" (1)
Red-tailed Hawk (23)
Nota bene: tough day to find raptors.
RING-NECKED PHAESANT (21: undoubtably all released birds and none too bright.
I actually yelled at one to get out of the way of the car.)
Ruffed Grouse (5)
WILD TURKEY (156)
A. Coot (1)
KILLDEER (2)
C. SNIPE (4)
RING-BILLED GULL (836)
Herring Gull (94)
Great Black-backed Gull (66)
Rock Dove (1137)
Mourning Dove (643)
E. Screech Owl (2)
Great Horned Owl (5)
Barred Owl (3)
N. Saw-whet Owl (1)
Nota bene: it was a VERY poor morning for owling with serious rain most of
the time
Belted Kingfisher (8)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (20)
Downy Woodpecker (113)
Hairy Woodpecker (16)
N. Flicker (7: very low)
Plieated Woodpecker (3)
Horned Lark (97)
Blue Jay (533)
A. Crow (607)
COMMON RAVEN (8)
Black-capped Chickadee (1512)
Tufted Titmouse (471)
Red-breasted Nuthhatch (7: certainly NOT a flight year)
White-breasted Nuthatch (316)
Brown Creeper (12: lowest count ever)
Carolina Wren (5)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (73)
E. Bluebird (39)
Hermit Thrush (1)
A. Robin (114. high count for circle was 2375)
N. Mockingbird (29)
**AMERICAN PIPIT (1: from Dresser Hill, a great spot for larks, buntings et)
Cedar Waxwing (434)
N. Shrike (1ad)
E. Starling (5394)
N. Cardinal (140)
**DICKCISSEL (1f found in the "Quabog" sector)
A. Tree Sparrow (448)
Savannah Sparrow (3)
Fox Sparrow (1)
Song Sparrow (50: low)
Swamp Sparrow (2)
White-throated Sparrow (44: low)
Dark-eyed Junco (603: back to more typical numbers after last year's 5421)
Red-winged Blackbird (100)
C. Grackle (42)
Brown-headed Cowbird (1)
Purple Finch (5: this species was very common two months earlier)
House Finch (262)
C. Redpoll (3: the flight is OVER for now)
Pine Siskin (101)
A. Goldfinch (495)
House Sparrow (1140)
Mammals seen included several White-tailed Deer, Skunk, Beaver, Muskrat, both
squirrels and a White-footed Mouse INSIDE MacDonald's running around. Cancel
my Big Mac, please...
Also noted by severl teams were sizeable clouds of large flies with long
wings in damp forested areas. They would emerge the second it stopped
rainging or snowing. If anyone can tell me what species this may be I would
appreciate it.
(report from Mark Lynch).
Common Loon 1 (**)
Great Blue Heron 132 (*)
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Canada Goose 27
Wood Duck 9
Mallard 4
Hooded Merganser 11 (*)
Northern Goshawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 6
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Ruffed Grouse 14 (*)
Killdeer 1 (**)
Mourning Dove 23
Great Horned Owl 3
Barred Owl 1
Chimney Swift 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 8
Downy Woodpecker 10
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 5
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 33
Alder Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 17
Eastern Phoebe 8
Great Crested Flycatcher 11
Eastern Kingbird 11
Blue-headed Vireo 9
Warbling Vireo 6
Red-eyed Vireo 85
Blue Jay 43
American Crow 14
Common Raven 1
Tree Swallow 104
Barn Swallow 50
Black-capped Chickadee 72
Tufted Titmouse 27
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Brown Creeper 17
House Wren 7
Winter Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Eastern Bluebird 7
Veery 15
Hermit Thrush 26
Wood Thrush 18
American Robin 34
Gray Catbird 18
European Starling 4
Cedar Waxwing 16
Blue-winged Warbler 5
Yellow Warbler 12
Chestnut-sided Warbler 13
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 7
Yellow=-rumped Warbler 17
Black-throated Green Warbler 15
Blackburnian Warbler 6
Black-and-white Warbler 18
American Redstart 14
Ovenbird 116
Northern Waterthrush 2
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 33
Canada Warbler 4
Scarlet Tanager 24
Eastern Towhee 23
Chipping Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 18
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 12
Bobolink 11
Red-winged Blackbird 62
Common Grackle 64
Brown-headed Cowbird 8
Baltimore Oriole 12
Purple Finch 7
House Finch 5
American Goldfinch 30
House Sparrow 6
(*) Includes adults and young
(**) Heard flying over head
34 Active Heron nests in Beaver Swamp Rookery
(report from Fran McMenemy).
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Canada Goose (7)
OSPREY (1: this bird was seen perched and hunting. I asked Paul Roberts about
this and he said second year birds often just wander and may even set up a
nest, though no eggs are laid. This area DOES look perfect for a pair of
nesting Ospreys in the future)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Mourning Dove (8)
GREAT HORNED OWL (1 newly fledged young: had no head tufts and still had some
downy feather ends. There was an orange buff tone to some of the contour
feathers. I flushed this bird from the ground, where it was being mobbed by
orioles, jays and grackles)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1)
Belted Kingfisher (1ad+ (1ad w/3 newly fledged young)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1)
Downy Woodpecker (9)
Hairy Woodpecker (5)
N. Flicker (2)
Pileated Woodpecker (1)
E. Wood Peewee (15)
Least Flycatcher (3)
E. Phoebe (8)
Great Crested Flycatcher (4)
E. Kingbird (5)
VIREOS:
Blue-headed (3)
Yellow-throated (1)
Warbling (2)
Red-eyed (24)
Blue Jay (18)
Tree Swallow (12)
Barn Swallow (8)
Black-capped Chickadee (23)
Tufted Titmouse (7)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (2)
White-breatsed Nuthatch (14)
Brown Creeper (3)
Winter Wren (1 singing)
E. Bluebird (4)
Veery (11)
Hermit Thrush (9)
Wood Thrush (14)
A. Robin (19)
Gray Catbird (27)
E. Starling (8)
Cedar Waxwing (11)
WARBLERS:
Yellow (5)
Chestnut-sided (13)
Yellow-rumped (1)
Black-throated Blue (4m)
Black-throated Green (2m)
Blackburnian (3m)
Pine (14)
Black and White (1f feeding at least 2 just fledged young. She caught a
rather large ode to feed to one of them)
Ovenbird (14)
LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (1 or 2 adults w/at least 2 fledged young)
C. Yellowthroat (22)
Scarlet Tanager (7)
E. Towhee (16)
Chipping Sparrow (7)
Song Sparrow (16)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (7)
Red-winged Blackbird (15)
C. Grackle (17)
Brown-headed Cowbird (11)
Baltimore Oriole (7)
Purple Finch (1m)
A. Goldfinch (9)
BUTTERFLIES included: Tiger Sawllowtail; E. Tailed Blue; American lady; Red
Admiral.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
Great Blue Heron (1 - flyover)
Turkey Vulture (1 - flyover)
Virginia Rail (1)
Killdeer (1 - flyover)
Rock Dove (6)
Mourning Dove (11)
Chimney Swift (3)
Downy Woodpecker (17)
Hairy Woodpecker (2)
Northern Flicker (9)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (14)
Willow Flycatcher (2)
Eastern Phoebe (2)
Great Crested Flycatcher (2)
Eastern Kingbird (6)
Red-eyed Vireo (6)
Blue Jay (15)
American Crow (9)
Tree Swallow (2)
N. ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW (5 - 2nd time on Survey)
Black-capped Chickadee (30)
Tufted Titmouse (30)
White-breasted Nuthatch (14)
Carolina Wren (3)
House Wren (2)
Eastern Bluebird (1)
Wood Thrush (10)
American Robin (29)
Gray Catbird (42)
Northern Mockingbird (3)
Brown Thrasher (4)
European Starling (791 - roosting in phragmites with Grackles)
Cedar Waxwing (11)
Blue-winged Warbler (2 - one with an immature Cowbird)
Yellow Warbler (7)
Prairie Warbler (1)
Black-and-white Warbler (2)
OVENBIRD (8 - New High!)
Common Yellowthroat (18)
Scarlet Tanager (4)
Eastern Towhee (35)
Chipping Sparrow (3)
Field Sparrow (8)
Song Sparrow (20)
Northern Cardinal (14)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (7)
Red-winged Blackbird (19)
Common Grackle (161)
Brown-headed Cowbird (25 - including immature being fed by Blue-winged
Warbler)
Baltimore Oriole (9 - including 3 juveniles)
House Finch (1)
American Goldfinch (19)
House Sparrow (9)
Also: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (1), Spicebush Swallowtail (3), Cabbage
White (11), Great Spangled Fritillary (5), Garter Snake (1)
(report from John Liller).
Turkey Vulture(1)
Mallard (1)
Killdeer (1)
Rock Dove (2)
Mourning Dove (30)
Chimney Swift (6)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1)
Downy Woodpecker (5)
Hairy Woodpecker (1)
Northern Flicker (2)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (5)
Least Flycatcher (4)
Eastern Phoebe (10)
Eastern Kingbird (7)
Warbling Vireo (7)
Red-eyed Vireo (24)
Blue Jay (16)
American Crow (26)
Tree Swallow (10)
Barn Swallow (5)
Black-capped Chickadee (19)
Tufted Titmouse (10)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch (16)
Brown Creeper (2)
Carolina Wren (1)
House Wren (5)
Veery (4)
Hermit Thrush (3)
Wood Thrush (6)
American Robin (58)
Gray Catbird (33)
Northern Mockingbird (6)
European Starling (10)
Cedar Waxwing (4)
Blue-winged Warbler (1)
Yellow Warbler (14)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (9)
Black-throated Green Warbler (5)
Pine Warbler (1)
Prairie Warbler (1)
Black-and-white Warbler (2)
American Redstart (4)
Ovenbird (18)
Common Yellowthroat (25)
Scarlet Tanager (6)
Eastern Towhee (1)
Chipping Sparrow (27)
Song Sparrow (27)
Northern Cardinal (15)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (5)
Indigo Bunting (2)
Bobolink (4)
Red-winged Blackbird (27)
Common Grackle (19)
Brown-headed Cowbird (5)
Baltimore Oriole (1)
House Finch (16)
American Goldfinch (35)
House Sparrow (22)
(report from John Liller).
Double-crested Cormorant 0/1 Tufted Titmouse 9/3
Great Blue Heron 4/8 White-br.Nuthatch 8/4
Green Heron 7/3 House Wren 2/1
Canada Goose 1/3 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 9/7
Wood Duck 2/0 Eastern Bluebird 2/0
Mallard 4/7 Veery 8/9
Turkey Vulture 0/2 Wood Thrush 7/8
Red-tailed Hawk 0/1 American Robin *70/87*
American Kestrel 0/1 Gray Catbird *42/29
Ring-necked Pheasant 0/1 No. Mockingbird 1/2
Sora Rail 2/0 Cedar Waxwing 11/12
Killdeer 13/2 European Starling
*88/29*
Spotted Sandpiper 2/8 Yellow-throated Vireo 2/5
American Woodcock 1/0 Warbling Vireo 12/18
Ring-billed Gull 0/1 Red-eyed Vireo 8/14
Herring Gull 0/5 Yellow Warbler *82/75
Rock Dove 0/6 Prairie Warbler 0/1
Mourning Dove 31/21 Black-&-White Warbler 3/0
Black-billed Cuckoo 0/ 6 American Redstart 3/11
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 0/2 Ovenbird 0/1
Chimney Swift 4/3 Common Yellowthroat
*43/35
Belted Kingfisher *3/1 Scarlet Tanager 1/6
Downy Woodpecker 7/5 Northern Cardinal 13/7
Hairy Woodpecker 7/1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9/5
Northern Flicker 3/3 Indigo Bunting 1/4
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3/3 Rufous-sided Towhee 3/1
Acadian Flycatcher 0/2 Chipping Sparrow 0/1
Willow Flycatcher 14/20+ Field Sparrow 1/0
Least Flycatcher 2/5 Song Sparrow *83/57*
Great Crested Flycatcher 3/4 Swamp Sparrow 13/10
Eastern Kingbird 7/11* Bobolink 0/60+*
Tree Swallow *33/9 Red-winged Blackbird
*75/300
N.Roughwinged Swallow 2/0 Common Grackle 17/57*
Bank Swallow 48/14 Brown-headed Cowbird
18/3
Barn Swallow 17/5 Northern Oriole *8/8
Blue Jay 15/11 House Finch 1/1
American Crow 74/31* American Goldfinch
47/24
Black-capped Chickadee *14/16 House Sparrow 0/10
Massbird report forwarded by Mark Lynch
Great Blue Heron: 8ad seen throughout; 6 active nests; 16 young, many of
which were close to fledging. (6 active nests w/14 young)
Broad-winged Hawk: 1 (2)
A. Woodcock: 1 (0): Nota bene: there are many more woodcock in the area, but
are generally only noted on evening visits. We flushed this one.
Chimney Swift: 2 (4)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 1m on territory (1m)
Downy Woodpecker: 8 (1)
N. Flicker: 7 (4)
E. Wood Peewee: 27 (9)
Willow Flycatcher: 3 (2)
Alder Flycathcer: 3 (7)
Least Flycatcher: 30 (25)
E. Phoebe: 5 (13)
Great Crested Flycatcher: 2 (9)
E. Kingbird: 19 (15)
VIREOS:
Blue-headed: 17 (18)
Yellow-throated: 2 (2)
Warbling: 3 (9)
Red-eyed: 122 (104)
Blue Jay: 18 (16)
A. Crow: 2 (7)
C. Raven: pair w/ 3 fledged young (2ad)
Tree Swallow: 44 (53)
N. Rough-winged Swallow: 4 (0)
Barn Swallow: 1 (3)
Black-capped Chickadee: 44 (44)
Tufted Titmouse: 14 (18)
White-breasted Nuthatch: 4 (0)
Brown Creeper: 6 (8)
House Wren: 3 (0)
Winter Wren: 1 (1)
Golden-crowned Kinglet: 6 (10: last year was a great year for this species at
this location)
E. Bluebird: 4ad+a group of newly fledged spot-breasted young (1)
Veery: 41 (38)
Hermit Thrush: 38 (49)
Wood Thrush: 6 (1)
A. Robin: 51 (54)
Gray Catbird: 52 (58)
Cedar Waxwing: 31 (53)
WARBLERS:
Blue-winged: 9 (8)
Yellow: 32 (48)
Chestnut-sided: 78 (28): This was the greatest change in any migrant species.
Magnolia: 9 (5)
Yellow-rumped: 27 (26)
Black-throated Blue: 6 (3): 5 of these were in araes where we had never had
BT Blues before.
Black-throated Green: 30 (36)
Blackburnian: 11 (12)
Pine: 56 (37)
Prairie: 7 (7)
Black and White: 21 (5)
A. Redstart: 19 (29)
Ovenbird: 78 (83)
N. Waterthrush: 1 (0)
C. Yellowthroat: 78 (88)
Canada: 1 (3)
Scarlet Tanager: 22 (28)
E. Towhee: 25 (19)
Chipping Sparrow: 61 (57)
Field Sparrow: 4 (8)
Savannah Sparrow: 2 (0)
Song Sparrow: 51 (28)
Swamp Sparrow: 24 (31)
White-throated Sparrow: 21 (4)
N. Cardinal: 1 (0)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: 11 (23)
Indigo Bunting: 5 (3)
Bobolink: 17 (9)
Red-winged Blackbird: 87 (109)
C. Grackle: 28 (35)
Brown-headed Cowbird: 9 (14)
Baltimore Oriole: 9 (6)
Purple Finch: 6 (11)
Pine Siskin: 3 (0): Nota bene: a group of 4 has been at the feeders at
Wachuset Meadows MAS most of this week.
A. Goldfinch: 29 (13)
Seen last year, but not this year: Canada Goose (3); Wood Duck (4); Mallard
(2); Hooded Merganser (1); Black-billed Cuckoo (4); Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1);
Barred Owl (1); Pileated Woodpecker (1: we did see fresh Pileated "work" this
year); Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (2); House Finch (2: not typical for this area);
Evening Grosbeak (6: they are probably here, but tough to find per usual
during the breeding season). We do usually get some waterfowl on the count
and this year is exceptional in that we didn't even turn up a Mallard. We
also usually get some cuckoos, but this year has been a poor one for cuckoo
species in the central part of the state.
We also had some good butterflies, a great ode show and got to see some very
fresh Moose tracks.
(census report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll)