The 2021/22 Coot Bay (Everglades National Park) Christmas Bird Count took place on Sunday, January 2. Twenty-three participants counted 25,504 birds of 114 species (plus two other taxa). Two other species (Long-billed Curlew and Rose-breasted Grosbeak) were seen during count week (the three days before and after count day). A Wood Thrush, seen and photographed on Snake Bight Trail, was a first for this species in the 71-year history of the count! New high counts were obtained for both Downy and Pileated Woodpecker.
Thanks to the following for their assistance during the count (party leaders in bold):
Bear Lake Road and Trail – Bill Boeringer and Joe Barros
Coastal Prairie Trail – Liz Golden and Michelle Davis
Coot Bay – Fritz (Boch) Hoeflein and Sarah Schwartz
Flamingo – Bob and Alice Pace, Jeanette Rawls, Robert Warren and David Schaffter
Florida Bay: Snake Bight Channel to Lake Ingraham – Juan Valadez, Pete Frezza and Alicia Fajando
Main Park Road - Brian Rapoza and Luis Gonzalez
Rowdy Bend Trail – Kevin Christman and Louis Linder
Snake Bight Trail – Amy Roda, Rachel DePietro, Sue Alspach, Jenny Andrews and Ryan Leys
Wood Thrush photograph by Rachel DePietro
Following are the totals for each species:
American Wigeon 80
Blue-winged Teal 70
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 29
Ring-necked Duck 19
Common Loon 4
Pied-billed Grebe 9
Wood Stork 56
Magnificent Frigatebird 5
Double-crested Cormorant 1440
Anhinga 35
American White Pelican 3550
Brown Pelican 1860
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 175, (White form) 215, (Wurdemann's) 3
Great Egret 380
Snowy Egret 1100
Little Blue Heron 215
Tricolored Heron 26
Reddish Egret 18
Cattle Egret 25
Green Heron 14
Black-crowned Night-Heron 8
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 20
White Ibis 1750
Roseate Spoonbill 155
Black Vulture 100
Turkey Vulture 180
Osprey 115
Northern Harrier 3
Bald Eagle 7
Red-shouldered Hawk 46
Short-tailed Hawk 1
Clapper Rail 1
Common Gallinule 2
American Coot 6
Black-necked Stilt 12
American Avocet 70
Black-bellied Plover 620
Wilson's Plover 13
Semipalmated Plover 86
Killdeer 37
Spotted Sandpiper 16
Greater Yellowlegs 22
Willet 950
Lesser Yellowlegs 26
Whimbrel 11
Long-billed Curlew (count week)
Marbled Godwit 25
Ruddy Turnstone 9
Sanderling 18
Dunlin 980
Least Sandpiper 3800
Semipalmated Sandpiper 8
Western Sandpiper 3150
Short-billed Dowitcher 1300
Laughing Gull 300
Ring-billed Gull 8
Herring Gull 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 9
Caspian Tern 18
Royal Tern 220
Black Skimmer 200
White-crowned Pigeon 12
Eurasian Collared-Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 1
Barn Owl 2
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Barred Owl 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 22
Red-bellied Woodpecker 100
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Downy Woodpecker 10 32
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5
Pileated Woodpecker 24
American Kestrel 9
Peregrine Falcon 3
Eastern Phoebe 31
Great Crested Flycatcher 19
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 47
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 155
Tree Swallow 4
ouse Wren 21
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 85
Wood Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 185
Brown Thrasher 3
Northern Mockingbird 36
European Starling 125
Ovenbird 8
Northern Waterthrush 47
Black-and-white Warbler 21
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 160
American Redstart 14
Cape May Warbler 1
Northern Parula 22
Magnolia Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 9
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 115
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 15
Yellow-throated Warbler 14
Prairie Warbler 30
Saltmarsh Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 66
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (count week)
Painted Bunting 8
Red-winged Blackbird 240
Common Grackle 165
Boat-tailed Grackle 2