Christmas Bird Count - 2023

The Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count is the nation’s longest running community science bird project (Audubon.org). The Benzie Audubon Club counts birds each December and contributes our numbers to the national database, helping to fuel research on this subject. Stay tuned for details on the 2024 count - the date and participation information will be added later this summer/fall. Read on below for a summary of the 2023 count. To view the official National Audubon Benzie County report, click here. 

The 2023 Christmas Bird Count sponsored by Benzie Audubon Club was conducted Friday, December 15th. On what turned out to be a ridiculously mild day, 28 participants in the field split up into 10 separate teams to comb much of Benzie County for birds. At the end of the day, we had found 71 species plus two hybrids and just over 6,000 individual birds. The last time we had that many species was 1996. Our average number of species the past ten years has been around 62. Certainly, the mild weather helped as did the number of excellent birders we had in the field. 

Highlights included both Red and White-winged Crossbills, Common Redpoll, Northern Flicker, Winter Wren, Northern Pintail, Northern Shrike and White-throated Sparrow. We also found 4 Eastern Bluebirds, 30 American Robins, 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 12 Bald Eagles and a single Screech Owl. One of the species we did not find was Mute Swan, which was seen both the day before and the day after the count. A Hermit Thrush was also spotted the day after the count. 

Thank you to John Ester for painstakingly compiling the count report (linked above). You can also find a complete history of the CBC including our own count at the National Audubon CBC webpage. The code for our count is MIBE and it is known as the Beulah area.

Our thanks to all of the birders who spent the day in the field as well as those who kept a close eye on their bird feeders. Let's do it again in 2024. 

(Summary provided by Doug Cook)