The 56th annual Miami (Dade County) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 20. On count day, 41 participants counted 14,637 birds of 124 species and two other taxa. Compared with 2024, there were 3,146 more birds counted and 9 more species. Of the 124 species tallied, 117 are on the official Florida state bird list and are considered “countable,” while the remaining seven are not on the state bird list and are thus not considered “countable.”
Though no new species for this count were reported on count day this year, a new taxon was added: Wurdemann’s Heron (the offspring of a blue morph and a white morph Great Blue Heron), which was seen in Biscayne Bay. Unusual species seen this year included a Hermit Thrush, seen on Virginia Key and reported for only the ninth time in count history. and a Northern Yellow Warbler, also seen on Virginia Key and also seen on only nine previous counts. New high counts were set this year for seven different species: Short-tailed Hawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Downy Woodpecker, Blue-crowned Parakeet, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler and Orange-crowned Warbler.
Six species were included in the CBC total this year because they were seen within the count circle by at least one CBC participant during count week (the three days before and three days after the actual day of the count). Those species were: Greater Yellowlegs, American Barn Owl, Chuck-will’s-widow, Yellow-headed Caracara, Common Myna and Pine Warbler.
Thanks to the following teams for their assistance during the count (team leaders listed first):
Biscayne Bay - Daniel Mlodozeniec and Jennifer Taylor
Downtown Miami – Joe Barros, Charles Trent, Nathan Renouf, Katie Ortiz and Jennifer Quintero
El Portal – Stephen Paez and Omar Paez
Greynold's Park - Greg Jones and Debbie Jones
Hialeah – Luis Gles and Mariah Hryniewich
Little Havana - Miriam Avello, James Jones, Bertha Vazquez, Erica Rochelle, Amanda Bluck and Tove Teitelbaum
Little River – Erik Johnson
Miami Beach – Brian Rapoza, Luis Gonzalez and John Small
Miami Shores - Andrea Diamond, Keith Roberts, Karen Roberts, Ann Martinez and Liz Gushee
Miami Springs – Noah Frade
Oleta River State Park - Liz Golden, Flo Rodriguez, Mark Hendrixson, Finn Shukaitis and Claudia Schmid
Opa-Locka - Fritz (Boch) Hoeflein and Sarah Schwartz
Virginia Key – Min Zhao, Huang Hanchen and Eileen Riach
Wynwood and Edgewater – Ashley Tippins
At the end of count day, participants assembled at Tropical Audubon Society’s historic Doc Thomas House headquarters to report their findings and enjoy a Pasta Party. TAS is extremely grateful to all of the volunteers who made the 2025 count possible, and to Leica Store Miami, which so generously sponsored the CBC Miami festivities!
Following are the totals for each species (non-countable taxa in italics, last year’s total in parenthesis):
Egyptian Goose – 83 (83)
Muscovy Duck (Domestic type) – 191 (175)
Mallard (feral) – 1 (0)
Blue-winged Teal – 1 (5)
Ring-necked Duck – 12 (12)
Red-breasted Merganser 4 (0)
Indian Peafowl (Domestic type) – 21 (21)
Pied-billed Grebe – 15 (8)
American Flamingo (Hialeah Park free-flying flock) – 154 (not counted in 2024)
Wood Stork – 71 (18)
Magnificent Frigatebird – 30 (8)
Northern Gannet – 1 (3)
Double-crested Cormorant – 560 (525)
Anhinga – 29 (21)
Brown Pelican – 240 (215)
Great Blue Heron (blue form) – 42 (13)
Great Blue Heron (white form) – 1 (0)
Great Blue Heron (Wurdemmann’s) – 1 (0)
Great Egret – 48 (118)
Snowy Egret – 10 (13)
Little Blue Heron – 18 (10)
Tricolored Heron – 16 (25)
Western Cattle Egret – 180 (200)
Green Heron – 12 (14)
Black-crowned Night-Heron – 3 (6)
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron – 8 (15)
White Ibis – 2000 (1800)
Black Vulture – 46 (53)
Turkey Vulture – 1900 (1500)
Osprey – 29 (24)
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 2 (0)
Cooper's Hawk – 15 6)
Red-shouldered Hawk – 9 (4)
Broad-winged Hawk – 3 (2)
Short-tailed Hawk – 23 (7)
Red-tailed Hawk – 2 (2)
Common Gallinule – 53 (57)
American Coot – 22 (59)
Limpkin – 3 (2)
Black-bellied Plover – 350 (220)
Semipalmated Plover – 15 (23)
Piping Plover – 16 (12)
Killdeer – 10 (6)
Spotted Sandpiper – 14 (3)
Greater Yellowlegs – count week (0)
Ruddy Turnstone – 2 (16)
Sanderling – 150 (120)
Short-billed Dowitcher – 18 (5)
Laughing Gull – 1000 (1225)
Ring-billed Gull – 88 (120)
Herring Gull – 12 (4)
Lesser Black-backed Gull – 18 (57)
Great Black-backed Gull 1 (1)
Caspian Tern – 2 (0)
Royal Tern – 78 (64)
Sandwich Tern – 1 (4)
Black Skimmer – 70 (68)
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) – 500 (580)
White-crowned Pigeon – 7 (0)
Eurasian Collared-Dove – 350 (345)
Common Ground-Dove – 2 (0)
White-winged Dove – 4 (8)
Mourning Dove – 128 (80)
American Barn Owl – count week (0)
Eastern Screech-Owl – 3 (4)
Chuck-will’s-widow – count week (0)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 38 (14)
Belted Kingfisher – 16 (13)
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 87 (78)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 16 (22)
Downy Woodpecker – 24 (13)
Yellow-headed Caracara - count week (1)
American Kestrel – 39 (40)
Merlin – 2 (4)
Peregrine Falcon – 4 (2)
Monk Parakeet – 17 (93)
Yellow-chevroned Parakeet – 20 (50)
Orange-winged Parrot – 15 (9)
Chestnut-fronted Macaw - 7 (10)
Blue-crowned Parakeet - 56 (30)
Mitred Parakeet – 6 (39)
Red-masked Parakeet – 10 (33)
White-eyed Parakeet – 220 (160)
Eastern Phoebe – 31 (18)
Great Crested Flycatcher – 2 (0)
Loggerhead Shrike – 11 (7)
White-eyed Vireo – 2 (0)
Yellow-throated Vireo – 7 (5)
Blue-headed Vireo – 17 (6)
Blue Jay – 104 (62)
Fish Crow – 2750 (600)
Northern House Wren – 1 (2)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 250 (135)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 2 (1)
Gray Catbird – 27 (11)
Northern Mockingbird – 173 (140)
European Starling – 700 (1000)
Common Myna – count week
Ovenbird – 7 (2)
Louisiana Waterthrush – 3 (1)
Northern Waterthrush – 4 (1)
Black-and-white Warbler – 58 (32)
Orange-crowned Warbler – 12 (9)
Common Yellowthroat – 19 (5)
American Redstart – 14 (14)
Cape May Warbler – 7 (11)
Northern Parula – 73 (44)
Magnolia Warbler – 2 (1)
Northern Yellow Warbler – 1 (1)
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 8 (15)
Palm Warbler - 380 (285)
Pine Warbler – count week (18)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 55 (93)
Yellow-throated Warbler – 35 (67)
Prairie Warbler – 35 (24)
Black-throated Green Warbler – 5 (3)
Summer Tanager – 6 (3)
Northern Cardinal – 65 (32)
Indigo Bunting - 1 (1)
Painted Bunting – 9 (0)
Red-winged Blackbird – 2 (0)
Common Grackle – 160 (47)
Boat-tailed Grackle – 70 (150)
Baltimore Oriole – 1 (3)
House Sparrow – 230 (73)
Blue-crowned Parakeets: Photo by Brian Rapoza