Results of Christmas Bird Counts Conducted  in the Upper Cumberland Region of Kentucky and Tennessee during the 2011–2012 (112th) CBC Season

Blue Jay numbers on the Regional CBCs conducted during the 112th CBC season were about average for this common permanent resident; photo Stephen J. Stedman.

 

About 110 species of birds were registered on the nine Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs—annually repeated bird counts) conducted this season in the Region (Table 1). 

    The circles for the nine CBCs conducted in the Region cover a total of 4142 square km (1593 square mi); since the Region itself covers 26450 square km (10212 square mi), the eight CBC/CBB circles represent 15.6% of the area within the Region, a percentage that probably approaches the threshold needed to allow the CBC data to be representative of the Regional birdlife as a whole.

    Data from CBCs provide one of two major sources of data used in monitoring bird populations at the continental level, the other being data from the Breeding Bird Survey.  At the Regional level, CBC/CBB data clearly have the same importance in monitoring bird populations, at least for species that can be classified as uncommon to common Regionally during winter.  Here is a link to the Regional bird-monitoring plan:

    To see a map (Figure 1) of the Upper Cumberland Region (UCR) showing locations of circles within which the nine CBCs were conducted this season, click on the following link:

    Click on the links below to access all data ever acquired at these Regional CBC sites:

 

Table 1. Results of CBCs conducted in the UCR during the 112th CBC season; for species recorded on five or more counts, the CBC high count for the season is presented in bold-faced red.

Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
State KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
Date (Dec/Jan) 14 31 2 5 15 17 21 23 19
Number of Field Observers 8 13 2 7 7 14 13 15 9
Number of Feederwatchers 0 10 2 0 0 3 0 0 0
Number of Parties 4 6 1 5 4 7–9 7 8 6
Number of Party Hours 26.75 53 8.75 46 35.75 66 67 66.25 54.75
Total Species 82 78 53 76 83 84 88 82 83
Primary Compiler RMD RMD WMM RMD TMC SJS EKL CDW DAD
                 
Greater White-fronted Goose           10      
Canada Goose 65 359 9 30 186 809 383 111 387
Mute Swan             1    
Wood Duck 1       4 5 1 5 3
Northern Shoveler   16   6   23 12   6
Gadwall 3 18 4 121 1 52 107   47
American Wigeon   6         18   2
Mallard 13 199 28 88 27 166 168 56 191
American Black Duck 4 26   8     5   1
Northern Pintail   1              
Green-winged Teal   8   10 2 2     11
Canvasback             2    
Redhead             4    
Ring-necked Duck   26 8 44 9 24 674    
Greater Scaup             10    
Lesser Scaup       1     9 4 1
Scaup sp.             10    
Black Scoter cw                
Bufflehead       26 19 10 164 13 13
Hooded Merganser 16 28 8 74 24 52 105 34 95
Red-breasted Merganser             1    
Ruddy Duck           5 277    
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
                 
Northern Bobwhite           10 1 19 1
Wild Turkey   42   76 206 46 1 5 92
Pied-billed Grebe 4 19 13 10 6 19 88 33 13
Horned Grebe 16     4 121 3 3 197  
Rock Pigeon 48 281 22 53 91 228 41 173 209
Eurasian Collared-Dove cw   1 2 2 8   16 31
Mourning Dove 231 568 37 305 249 541 294 664 575
Rufous Hummingbird   1 2            
American Coot 1 9   7 290 38 476 34 2
Sandhill Crane 95 32 39 179 4 1876     13
Killdeer 12 134 6 55 67 164 108 379 102
American Woodcock 3         1 1    
Wilson's Snipe 3 7     1 18 25   1
Bonaparte's Gull 63 cw 55 31 53     15  
Ring-billed Gull 18 38 273 31 221     16 1
Common Loon 3       20   4 76  
Double-crested Cormorant cw 1             1
Great Blue Heron 4 11 3 4 15 15 5 21 21
Green Heron   1              
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2       1        
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
                 
Black Vulture 239 162 2 26 40 296   644 127
Turkey Vulture 297 84 30 100 36 278 9 107 157
Northern Harrier 1     6 1 1 1 4 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 7     1 5 1 1  
Cooper's Hawk 1 6 1 3 3 7 3 7 5
     Accipiter sp.   1           2  
Bald Eagle 1 3 3   3   3 8  
    Adult   1     2   2 5  
     Immature 1 2     1   1 3  
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 12   10 9 31 9 4 5
Red-tailed Hawk 23 47 3 33 18 42 11 33 39
Barn Owl         1        
Eastern Screech-Owl 12 1   7 5 9 4 7 6
Great Horned Owl 19 1   2 3 9 1 3 3
Barred Owl 26     3 4 3 3 3 2
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
                 
Belted Kingfisher 9 13   8 8 9 5 14 8
Red-headed Woodpecker 7 11   6   4 12 1 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 61 64 7 50 32 72 49 83 67
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9 6 3   2 7 7 36 13
Downy Woodpecker 38 43 2 34 24 31 47 59 40
Hairy Woodpecker 5 11 1 6 2 12 5 14 6
Northern Flicker 34 34 2 33 15 37 34 51 41
Pileated Woodpecker 17 10 2 29 11 30 15 40 21
American Kestrel 53 63 1 37 34 38 22 46 68
Eastern Phoebe 8 6   7 9 11 8 2 8
Loggerhead Shrike 1     2   1   1 3
Blue Jay 210 232 15 199 96 225 110 163 225
American Crow 360 723 13 290 258 751 274 1435 432
Horned Lark 4     4 4   23 102  
Carolina Chickadee 90 160 2 105 116 156 270 215 115
Tufted Titmouse 137 132 3 117 59 205 248 175 168
Red-breasted Nuthatch           1 4    
White-breasted Nuthatch 35 48 2 45 24 61 73 63 52
Brown-headed Nuthatch           8      
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
                 
Brown Creeper 2 6 2 1 3 7 3 8 7
House Wren cw                
Winter Wren 4 2 2 2 3 7 5 15 6
Carolina Wren 100 103 13 80 65 147 92 132 115
Golden-crowned Kinglet 14 26 2 7 29 24 25 10 36
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 3     2 10 3 26 11
Eastern Bluebird 266 283 28 124 162 395 273 338 272
Hermit Thrush 11 7   8 11 21 21 74 19
American Robin 1268 284 257 628 11004 342 224 2420 271
Brown Thrasher 5 cw     3 8 5 3 7
Northern Mockingbird 133 125 10 86 67 219 94 108 152
European Starling 28590 15632 910 4301 9110 14294 1324 2754 4173
Cedar Waxwing 128 8   34 70 37 176 760 44
House Sparrow 66 94 24 86 81 130 56 107 167
American Pipit 12     70 45 cw 35 91 2
House Finch 26 92 3 16 32 133 93 69 38
Purple Finch 2       5 2 5 14 5
American Goldfinch 85 147 10 72 149 213 112 121 94
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN
                 
Eastern Towhee 56 43 14 29 29 84 51 98 29
American Tree Sparrow       1          
Chipping Sparrow 2 3   19 21 69 8 29 90
Field Sparrow 174 100 17 62 156 355 190 182 108
Savannah Sparrow 12     20 16 21 1 40 10
Fox Sparrow 3 9   1 2 14 7 20 5
Song Sparrow 83 170 33 102 83 214 145 189 141
Swamp Sparrow 11 15   10 12 35 13 32 33
White-crowned Sparrow 4 30   41   9 5 60 43
White-throated Sparrow 129 148 89 108 182 338 167 547 234
Dark-eyed Junco 55 168 27 76 55 105 112 145 69
Eastern Meadowlark 95 77 28 76 70 118 59 37 136
Red-winged Blackbird 25 200 12 35 252 19   7 23
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 99 15   209   22 14 19
Rusty Blackbird 2 cw     100     1  
Common Grackle 23 5522     4 1 12 4 3
Common Yellowthroat   1              
Palm Warbler           1   1 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 120 176 6 141 138 83 39 437 141
Northern Cardinal 328 425 22 174 302 479 278 576 278
                   
Total Individuals 34148 27709 2124 8737 24906 24299 7967 14663 10218
                   
Total Species 82 78 53 76 83 84 88 82 83
                 
Location Russ.– Adair Co. Somer-
set		 Glas- gow Wayne
Co.		 Clay
Co.		 Cooke-
ville		 Cross-
ville		 De- Kalb
Co.		 White
Co.
KY KY KY KY TN TN TN TN TN

Key to compiler initials:

TMC = Terry M. Campbell
RMD = Roseanna M. Denton
DAD = Douglas A. Downs
 EKL = Edmund K. LeGrand
WMM = Wayne M. Mason
SJS = Stephen J. Stedman
CDW = Carol D. Williams

 

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