The Kendall Area Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 21, 2024. Luis Gonzalez, the new compiler for this count (replacing Bill Boeringer), has prepared the following count summary:
“Overall, we had an incredibly successful year with the highest species total since 2016 with a total of 152 species reported (5 during count week). The individual total of birds took a big decrease from the last year, with notable dips in the numbers of Rock Pigeon, Laughing Gull, Black Vulture, Mitred Parakeet and European Starling (these species having a 30% or more decrease from the 2023 CBC).
This isn't to say that all was negative, as we managed to hit record high for a good number of species including Wood Stork, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, Bald Eagle, Short-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Great Crested Flycatcher, House Finch, Baltimore Oriole, Cape May Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler. We also managed to add a few species to the circle for the first time, these include Least Bittern, Philadelphia Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Dickcissel.
The fun title given to the count of "Where America's Warblers come to Winter" stayed as we counted 20 different warbler species on count day. A big contribution that needs to be acknowledged is the effort of the feeder watchers, as we were able to report over 70 Painted Buntings within the circle and over 90% were seen in someone's backyard feeders.
On a final note, I want to say thank you to all 63 participants who made this count possible. This event can only be done with the help of birders that are willing to put the time and effort to find as many of the species that call urban Miami home”.
Species List
(species in bold = new for count; numbers in bold = new high count; CW = count week)
Mute Swan - 2
Egyptian Goose - 149
Muscovy Duck - 870
Blue-winged Teal - 23
Mallard (Feral) - 3
Mottled Duck - CW
Ring-necked Duck - CW
Lesser Scaup - 1
Red-breasted Merganser - 5
Indian Peafowl - 54
Rock Pigeon - 391
White-crowned Pigeon - 23
Eurasian Collared Dove - 233
Common Ground-Dove - 2
White-winged Dove - 34
Mourning Dove - 208
Lesser Nighthawk - 1
Chuck-wills-widow - 1
Eastern Whip-poor-will - 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 116
King Rail - 3
Clapper Rail - 1
Common Gallinule - 167
American Coot - 88
Limpkin - 4
Black-necked Stilt - 1
Black-bellied Plover - 2
Killdeer - 35
Semipalmated Plover - 14
Spotted Sandpiper - 14
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Ruddy Turnstone - 20
Least Sandpiper - 2
Bonaparte's Gull - 1
Laughing Gull - 2358
Franklin's Gull - 2
Ring-billed Gull - 119
American Herring Gull - 21
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 42
Caspian Tern - 2
Forster's Tern - CW
Royal Tern - 29
Pied-billed Grebe - 63
Wood Stork - 104
Anhinga - 35
Double-crested Cormorant - 1162
White Ibis - 4323
Least Bittern - 2
Yellow-crowned Night Heron - 18
Black-crowned Night Heron - 2
Little Blue Heron - 32
Tricolored Heron - 32
Snowy Egret - 18
Green Heron - 29
Western Cattle Egret - 776
Great Egret - 41
Great Blue Heron - 28
Brown Pelican - 41
Black Vulture - 152
Turkey Vulture - 4709
Osprey - 24
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 22
Northern Harrier - 8
Bald Eagle - 16
Broad-winged Hawk - 7
Red-shouldered Hawk - 25
Short-tailed Hawk - 38
Swainson's Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 7
American Barn Owl - 1
Eastern Screech-Owl - 22
Great Horned Owl - 1
Burrowing Owl - 2
Belted Kingfisher - 16
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 35
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 132
Downy Woodpecker - 16
Pileated Woodpecker - 6
Northern Flicker - 2
American Kestrel - 87
Merlin - 6
Peregrine Falcon - 4
Monk Parakeet - 59
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet - 75
Orange-winged Amazon - 64
Blue-and-Yellow Macaw - 20
Chestnut-fronted Macaw - 15
Mitred Parakeet - 162
Red-masked Parakeet - 60
Least Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 49
Great Crested Flycatcher - 24
White-eyed Vireo - 9
Yellow-throated Vireo - 19
Blue-headed Vireo - 45
Philadelphia Vireo - 1
Loggerhead Shrike - 35
Blue Jay - 222
Fish Crow - 1015
Tree Swallow - 24
Red-whiskered Bulbul - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 398
Northern House Wren - 7
European Starling - 789
Common Myna - 14
Gray Catbird - 100
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 229
Scaly-breasted Munia - 28
House Sparrow - 109
House Finch - 30
American Goldfinch - 5
Grasshopper Sparrow - 3
Savannah Sparrow - 9
Eastern Towhee - CW
Eastern Meadowlark - 4
Spot-breasted Oriole - 4
Baltimore Oriole - 14
Red-winged Blackbird - 1251
Bronzed Cowbird - CW
Common Grackle - 1653
Boat-tailed Grackle - 277
Ovenbird - 16
Worm-eating Warbler - 2
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 10
Black-and-white Warbler - 127
Orange-crowned Warbler - 17
Nashville Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 65
American Redstart - 48
Cape May Warbler - 30
Northern Parula - 152
Magnolia Warbler - 13
Yellow Warbler - 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 18
Palm Warbler - 463
Pine Warbler - 35
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 439
Yellow-throated Warbler - 62
Prairie Warbler - 81
Black-throated Green Warbler - 31
Summer Tanager - 6
Western Tanager - 2
Northern Cardinal - 116
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
Indigo Bunting - 2
Painted Bunting - 71
Dickcissel - 1
Limpkin: Photo by Luis Gonzalez