To view regional top-10 lists and Rare Bird Highlights, click on the gray dots above.

A Harris’s Sparrow showed up in December 2000 at Pamela Campbell’s feeder in Colfax, Wisconsin.

Rare Bird Patterns

Many Feederwatchers reported Dark-eyed “Oregon” Juncos and Harris’s Sparrows far from their typical winter ranges. The normal winter range of the “Oregon” plumage-form of the Dark-eyed Junco is the western United States. The normal winter range of the Harris’s Sparrow is limited to the central and southern Great Plains of the United States; however, vagrant Harris’s Sparrows regularly occur all over North America.

All confirmed rare bird reports, with any accompanying photographs, can be found at http://birds/cornell.edu/pfw.

Sizing Up Abundance

House Sparrows are a highlight? Believe it or not, yes. For each region, we wanted to highlight the single most noticeable change in abundance of a bird species, relative to its average abundance during the previous five years. Our calculations show that increases in abundance of House Sparrows were the most dramatic story in the Mid-Central region, despite what birders might prefer. As the map indicates, changes in chickadee abundance were notable in several regions.

Our measure of abundance is the average number of birds seen, including zero values for locations or weeks when birds of a given species were not seen. Thus, our abundance measure takes into account both the percentage of feeders visited and the number of birds seen at a given time. We also de-emphasize unusual, extremely high counts in calculating our average (technically called a geometric mean).

Remember, a change in abundance may indicate a real change in the number of birds, or simply changes in the numbers of birds visiting feeders. Keep in mind, too, that the “most dramatic” changes in abundance are relatively small in many cases—at most, about two birds per week per FeederWatcher.

Enjoy this year’s Top-10 Lists, also calculated from relative abundance data.

AL -CAN

Black-capped Chickadee sightings abundant.

1. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
2. COMMON REDPOLL
3. PINE GROSBEAK
4. PINE SISKIN
5. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH
6. BOREAL CHICKADEE
7. BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE
8. DARK-EYED JUNCO
9. DOWNY WOODPECKER
10. HAIRY WOODPECKER

ALLEGHENY

Black-capped Chickadee numbers down in early winter. Rare birds: “Oregon” Junco (Spencer, NY), Black-headed Grosbeak (Blakeslee, PA).

1. DARK-EYED JUNCO
2. MOURNING DOVE
3. HOUSE FINCH
4. HOUSE SPARROW
5. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
6. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
7 .NORTHERN CARDINAL
8. BLUE JAY
9. TUFTED TITMOUSE
10. EUROPEAN STARLING

CALIFORNIA

Lesser Goldfinches notably abundant. The winter range of this species shifts from year to year.

1. HOUSE FINCH
2. MOURNING DOVE
3. DARK-EYED JUNCO
4. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW
5. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
6. HOUSE SPARROW
7. WESTERN SCRUB-JAY
8. LESSER GOLDFINCH
9. GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW
10. ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD

EAST CENTRAL

Banner year for Dark-eyed Juncos. Rare birds: “Pink-sided” Junco (Science Hill, KY), one of only a few state records. Yellow-headed Blackbird (Caseyville, IL). Indigo Bunting (Bloomington, IN).

1. HOUSE SPARROW
2. DARK-EYED JUNCO
3. HOUSE FINCH
4. MOURNING DOVE
5. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
6. NORTHERN CARDINAL
7. BK.-CAP./CAR . CHICKADEE
8. EUROPEAN STARLING
9. BLUE JAY
10. DOWNY WOODPECKER

GREAT LAKES

Unusually high numbers of American Tree Sparrows around the junction of lakes Huron and Erie compared with the past three years. Black-capped Chickadee numbers down in early winter. Rare birds: “Oregon” Junco (Battle Creek, MI). Wisconsin hosted several rare bird sightings: Summer Tanager in Superior, Varied Thrush in Cornell, Harris’s Sparrow in Colfax, and “Oregon” Junco in Elk Mound.

1. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
2. MOURNING DOVE
3. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
4. DARK-EYED JUNCO
5. HOUSE SPARROW
6. BLUE JAY
7. HOUSE FINCH
8. NORTHERN CARDINAL
9. DOWNY WOODPECKER
10. EUROPEAN STARLING

MID-ATLANTIC

Dark-eyed Juncos less abundant than usual. Rare birds: Baltimore Oriole (Hamilton, NJ), Dicksissel (Truro, MA), Nashville Warbler (Hurlock, MD).

1. MOURNING DOVE
2. DARK-EYED JUNCO
3. HOUSE F INCH
4. NORTHERN CARDINAL
5. BK.-CAP./CAR. C HICKADEE
6. TUFTED TITMOUSE
7. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
8. HOUSE SPARROW
9. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW
10. BLUE JAY

MID-CENTRAL

House Sparrow sightings more common than usual.

1. HOUSE SPARROW
2. DARK-EYED JUNCO
3. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
4. NORTHERN CARDINAL
5. HOUSE FINCH
6. EUROPEAN STARLING
7. BLUE JAY
8. MOURNING DOVE
9. BK.-CAP ./CAR . CHICKADEE
10. DOWNY WOODPECKER

NEW ENGLAND

Banner year for Dark-eyed Juncos.

1. DARK-EYED JUNCO
2. MOURNING DOVE
3. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
4. BLUE JAY
5. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
6. TUFTED TITMOUSE
7. NORTHERN CARDINAL
8. DOWNY WOODPECKER
9. HOUSE FINCH
10. HOUSE SPARROW

NORTHERN ROCKIES

Pine Siskins notably abundant. Rare birds: Harris’s Sparrow (Calgary and Crossfield, Alberta, Canada). Lincoln’s Sparrow (Rexburg, ID).

1. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
2. HOUSE SPARROW
3. HOUSE FINCH
4. DARK-EYED JUNCO
5. PINE SISKIN
6. DOWNY WOODPECKER
7. BLUE JAY
8. BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE
9. EVENING GROSBEAK
10. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH

NORTH ATLANTIC

Black-capped Chickadee numbers down in early winter. Rare birds: Varied Thrush (Millinocket, ME); Lincoln’s Sparrow (Cape Porpoise, ME).

1. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
2. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
3. MOURNING D OVE
4. BLUE JAY
5. DARK-EYED JUNCO
6. EUROPEAN STARLING
7. PURPLE FINCH
8. AMERICAN CROW
9. HOUSE SPARROW
10. DOWNY WOODPECKER

NORTH CENTRAL

Black-capped Chickadee numbers down in early winter. Rare bird: Harris’s Sparrow (Fairmont, MN).

1. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
2. HOUSE SPARROW
3. DARK-EYED JUNCO
4. BLUE JAY
5. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
6. DOWNY WOODPECKER
7. HOUSE FINCH
8. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
9. NORTHERN CARDINAL
10. HAIRY WOODPECKER

NORTH PACIFIC

Fewer Dark-eyed Juncos than usual. Rare bird: Two different male Harris’s Sparrows (Sweet Home, OR).

1. DARK-EYED JUNCO
2. HOUSE FINCH
3. PINE SISKIN
4. BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
5. EUROPEAN STARLING
6. HOUSE SPARROW
7. STELLER’S JAY
8. SPOTTED TOWHEE
9. CH.-BACKED CHICKADEE
10. SONG SPARROW

SOUTH CENTRAL

House Sparrow sightings more common than usual. Rare bird: “Oregon” Junco (Tyler and Arlington, TX).

1. HOUSE SPARROW
2. NORTHERN CARDINAL
3. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
4. MOURNING DOVE
5. HOUSE FINCH
6. DARK-EYED JUNCO
7. BLUE JAY
8. CAROLINA CHICKADEE
9. RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD
10. TUFTED TITMOUSE

SOUTHEAST

Dark-eyed Juncos less abundant than usual. Rare birds: “Oregon” Junco (Columbia, TN), Lazuli Bunting (Ft. Pierce, FL—Samuel Comer photographed Lazuli, Painted, and Indigo buntings at his feeder, all at the same time), Baltimore Oriole (Conyers, GA), Calliope Hummingbird (Augusta, GA), Selasphorus hummingbird (Sardis, MS).

1. MOURNING DOVE
2. NORTHERN CARDINAL
3. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
4. HOUSE FINCH
5. TUFTED TITMOUSE
6. CAROLINA CHICKADEE
7. W HITE-THROATED S PARROW
8. BLUE JAY
9. DARK-EYED JUNCO
10. CAROLINA WREN

SOUTHWEST

Pine Siskins notably abundant. Rare bird: Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker (Las Vegas, NV). Northern “Red-shafted” Flickers are more common in the west.

1. HOUSE FINCH
2. DARK-EYED JUNCO
3. HOUSE SPARROW
4. MOURNING DOVE
5. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
6. EUROPEAN STARLING
7. PINE SISKIN
8. MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE
9. WESTERN SCRUB-JAY
10. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW

Return