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Eugene Christmas Bird Count

The 2023 Eugene Christmas Bird Count (ECBC) Summary

Although the weather was not ideal, the 82nd ECBC held on Sunday Dec. 31 was a great success.  The 190 Field Observers and 101 Home Counters saw 133 species of birds and 66,334 individual birds.   Field observers spent 273 hours looking for birds while walking 192 miles, driving 444 miles and bicycling 9 miles.

Yes, I said 190 Field Observers!  That is the highest number we have ever had on this CBC, breaking the old record by 26 birders!  Combine that with the 101 Home Counters and the total number of observers also set a new record of 291 people, 27 over the old high.  Each year I have tried to get more people to go on the ECBC because the more eyes we have out looking for birds, the more birds we will see.  I also wanted more people to enjoy birdwatching so they would perhaps work to save habitat and the environment.

The number of species seen was about average for the past five years but the number of individual birds was low.  We know the decreased visibility due to the heavy fog made finding birds difficult. The 2023 ECBC Summary article below by Vjera Thompson goes into more depth on the birds seen. I want to share an interesting tidbit. At the end of the day for most teams, we had not seen a Western Screech-Owl. Rich Hoyer who has been a Team Leader for several years but was out-of-the country for most of Count Day, was flying home and saw on e-Bird that we had not seen a Screech Owl. He had been hearing one in the Count Circle for much of December, so when his plane landed at 10:30 pm, he went to the area he had been hearing the owl, heard it and reported it to Vjera before midnight!

Marcia Maffei, Home Counter Coordinator, recruited 101 Home Counters this year.  That is a high number considering we have only had over 100 Home Counters six times, all in the past eight years.

The ECBC is such a success because we have many active birders in the Eugene-Springfield area, and also because of the great efforts by the 26 Team Leaders.   The Team Leaders organize their teams and guide them all day long while looking for birds.

I have listed the Team Leaders below (or to the right).  Some have been Team Leaders for over 20 years and some even over 30 years.  We also had two new Team Leaders this year.

I want to thank the LCAS Board of Directors for sponsoring the ECBC, Vjera Thompson the Species Compiler, Marcia Maffei the Home Counter Coordinator and all the Team Leaders for making the 82nd ECBC fun, educational and exciting!

By Dick Lamster, ECBC Count Coordinator

SAVE THE DATE!
2024 Christmas Bird Count

Sunday Dec 29, 2024

 

Eugene Christmas Bird Count Circle

 

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of community science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere, go out on one calendar day to count birds.

Local events take place in Eugene, Florence, Cottage Grove, and Oakridge at the end of December, and are open to anyone interested in birds. If you are just starting to get interested and want to learn more, this is a fun and exciting opportunity to learn about birds and birding from experienced birders. For dates, see our December events calendar.

You may also contact Dick Lamster at 541-343-8664

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Eugene CBC
Team Leaders by Area

1:  Ron Renchler
2:  Lars Norgren
3A: Dan and Anne Heyerly
3B: Darryl Wisner
4: Rick Ahrens
5A: Donna Albino
5B: Marcia Maffei
6: John Sullivan
7: Roger Robb
8: Dave Kofranek
9: Josh Galpern
10: Lars Hovde
11A: David Novak
11B: Dick Lamster
12A: Steve Gordon
12B: Pat Boleyn
13A: Sarah Merkle
13B: Holly Hartmann
14: Julia Siporin
15: Thomas Meinzen
16: Linda Gilbert
17: no leader this year
18: Caryn Stoess
19: Vjera Thompson
20A:  Nancy Clogston
20B: Bruce Newhouse
21: Ellen Cantor

TO SEE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT RESULTS FROM PAST YEARS,
Including Eugene, Florence, Oakridge and Cottage Grove,
CLICK ON THE YEAR IN THE TABLE BELOW