By NICK YAMASHITA
Moapa Valley Progress
Twenty members of the National Audubon Society gathered for the annual Muddy River Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 29. The group took to the fields to take a careful count of ever bird specie that they could see, beginning at 6:30 a.m. and continuing until sundown.
Every year the Audubon Society organizes these citizen science projects across the country to help collect scientific data for understanding and protecting American birds. The Christmas count has been going on for 119 years nationally.
The Muddy River bird-watchers hiked the area in a 15-mile diameter circle last week, counting all species of birds. The area included in the circle were Warm Springs Natural Area, all along the Muddy River, and the Bowman Reservoir. Some areas included in this hike are Meadow Valley Wash, Moapa Paiute Indian Reservation, Hidden Valley and more.
“The Christmas Bird Count is a good opportunity to see how many birds are here in depth of winter,” said Southern Nevada Water Authority biologist David Syzdek who coordinates the annual event. “It helps us understand birds’ flight patterns and migration as well as such issues as changes over time in land use, farm abandonment, climate change and how other issues change migration.”
Because of less farming, more housing and more signs of human civilization, people are seeing more and more of the common birds. Species include pigeons, hummingbirds and more.
“We do this count every year and give up our time and money to help provide important information,” Syzdek said. “We also do this to outreach to the residents of Moapa Valley and provide important data especially to ranchers, farmers and more.”
The release of the preliminary count was Dec. 30. There were 75 species of birds and 12,539 individual birds.
The most abundant bird counted was the European Starling with 5,797 seen. This species is non-native and has an estimated North American population of 150 million. All of these are descended from 60 starlings which were released in 1890 at Central Park in New York.
Another abundant bird located in the local area was the Brewer’s Blackbird. A total of 1,805 of these were counted.
Some of the finds this year were quite exciting to the bird watching group.
For example, a single Red-Breasted Sapsucker was located on the Moapa Paiute Indian Reservation. This find was a new species for the Upper Muddy River Valley and had not been counted here before.
Another exciting find was a pair of sandhill cranes. Syzdek believed that the cranes probably got lost during migration and are spending the winter here.
Other notable birds found in the count were 14 ferruginous hawks and 44 red-tailed hawks.
Interestingly, no American crows were spotted this year which are typically more common. However, 258 American Robins were spotted, an increase within the last year. Most of the robins were spotted within the Warm Springs area.
The complete bird count is as follows: Canada Goose 25, Mallard 45, Green-winged teal 1, Common Merganser 1, Ruddy Duck 1, Gambels Quail 208, Pied-billed Grebe 5, Rock Pigeon 180, Eurasian Collared Dove 179, Mourning Dove 48, Greater Roadrunner 7, Anna’s Hummingbird 3, Virginia Rail 1, American Coot 49, Killdeer 5, Least Sandpiper 7, Common Loon 1, Great Blue Heron 4, Northern Harrier 8, Sharp-shinned Hawk 11, Cooper’s Hawk 6, Accipiter spp. 1, Red-tailed Hawk 44, Ferruginous Hawk 14, Barn Owl 1, Great Horned Owl 2, Belted Kingfisher 2, Red-naped Sapsucker 1, Ladder-backed WP, 7, Northern Flicker 61, American Kestrel 8, Prairie Falcon 2, Black Phoebe 7, Say’s Phoebe 27, Loggerhead Shrike 20, Comon Raven 36, Horned Lark 50, Verdin 69, Bushtit 45, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 46, Rock Wren 8, Canyon WRen 5, Pacific Wren 1, Marsh Wren 4, Bewick’s Wren 19, Black-tailed gnatcatcher 40, Western Bluebird 70, Mountain Bluebird 1, American Robin 258, Northern Mockingbird 51, Crissal Thrasher 33, Eureopean Starling 5797, American Pipit 119, Phainopepla 173, House FInch 103, Lesser Goldfinch 208, American Goldfinch 38, Dark-eyed Junco 18, Dark-eyed Junco Oregon, 2, White-crowned Sparrow 1204, Sagebrush Sparrow 13, Savannah Sparrow 4, Song Sparrow 52, Abert’s Towhee 206, Spotted Towhee 3, Western Meadowlark 75, Red-winged Blackbird 497, Brown-headed Cowbird 94, Brewer’s Blackbird 1805, Great-tailed Grackle 29, Orange-crowned Warbler 1, Yellow-rumped Warbler 195, House Sparrow 172, Red-breasted Sapsucker 1, Sandhill Crane 2.
For more information about the annual Christmas Bird Count across the country visit the website at www.audubon.org. For local information, Syzdek can also be contacted by email at dsyzdek@gmail.com.
