Dallas Christmas Count Data

Dallas Christmas Count 2009

2009 Summary

The 2009 Dallas CBC has been compiled. The total stands at 117 on count day and 117 on count week (3rd best count). Weather was cool and it appears sparrow numbers were down again considerably. However, most of the expected birds were seen along with rarities like Red-headed Woodpecker, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Merlin, White-eyed Vireo, and Marsh Wren. A special thanks to my wife Gretchen for managing the countdown while I was on a plane to another count. Entire 2009 Spreadsheet.

Archives for Zones 1998-2003

Map

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

Prior to 1998, the archives were handwritten but posted on the National Audubon Christmas Count web pages. You may search this database below using the Dallas count circle abbreviation (TXDA) or by species.

Historical Count Data

As of 2004-05, all 12 Dallas zones have now been combined in the count data information sheets below:

Previous Years :

2007-08 CBC 109 sp. 110 CW

2006-07 CBC 117 sp. 123 CW

2005-06 CBC 115 sp. 118 CW

2004-05 CBC 119 sp. 125 CW

Top Nine Dallas CBCs by Species

1. 2004 = 119 CD and 125 CW
2. 2006 = 117 CD and 123 CW
3. 2009 = 117 CD and 117 CW
4. 2005 = 115 CD and 118 CW
5. 2002 = 112 CD and 115 CW
6. 2008 = 111 CD and 114 CW
7. 2007 = 109 CD and 110 CW
8. 1983 = 108 CD and 108 CW
9. 2003 = 107 CD and 108 CW

Most Dallas counts prior to 2000 averaged between 98-103 species.

CBC Photo Rarities

Selasphorus Hummingbird - Dallas CBC, December 15, 2007

Common Nighthawk - Dallas CBC, December 16, 2006

California Gull - Dallas CBC, December 17, 2006

Tropical\Couch's Kingbird - Dallas CBC, December 18, 2004

Selasphorus Hummingbird - Dallas CBC, December 20, 2003

Dallas-Ft.Worth Big Day Challenge

This was a late winter birding competition done in 2006 and 2007 between the Dallas and Ft. Worth Audubon Societies.

This competition allowed us to bird the entire county for wintering birds rather than just the typical count circles within the counties.

2006 Big Day Challenge Results

2007 Big Day Challenge Results

Excel spreadsheet of entire 2009 count by zone

Map of the Dallas Count. The count circle has remained constant since it began in 1957.

Obvious Mistakes from Past Years

* Plain Titmouse (55) from 1967. Pulich shows no records of this bird before or after the split. Clearly a bizarre misidentification.

* Pygmy Nuthatch (1) from 1967. Possible but unlikely. Pulich shows the only PYNU record from 1966 – a year earlier.

* Semipalmated Sandpiper 50 from 1957 and also 26 from 1975. That would be unheard of (December/January records are so rare in Texas that they are reviewable by the TBRC.)

* Baird’s Sandpiper (25) from 1966. Individual records in North America in December are extraordinary.

* Pectoral Sandpiper (9) from 1957. Also unbelievable.

* Pyrrhuloxia (221) from 1974. A number of 221? Someone must have been counting this west Texas bird from the window of a local bar.

Curiosities and Possible Errors

* Sage Thrasher (7) from 1957 – No records from that year (Pulich)

* Baird’s Sparrow (4) from 1961 – No records from that year (Pulich)

* Golden-fronted Woodpecker –1978, 1984. Probably misidentified

* Dickcissel (1) from 1982 (possible, but no details)

I Wish I Had Seen It

* Rough-legged Hawk – several seen nearly every year from 1957-1978. More common before the county became so urban

* Glaucous Gull from 2001 (cw) – details available

* King Rail from 1962, 1964, 1969

* Couch’s/Tropical Kingbird from 2005 – details and photograph

* White-eyed Vireo from 2009 - details available

* Townsend’s Solitaire from 1973

* Northern Parula Warbler from 2000 – details available

* Nashville Warbler (1) from 1995 – details available

* Mourning Warbler (1) from 1991

* Western Tanager (1) from 1996 – details available (Actually, I did see it! Seen by myself and two others)

* Blue Grosbeak from 1976 (I actually met the woman who had this bird at her feeder for a few weeks during that year.)

* Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male) from 1999 and 2006 – details available for both years

High Numbers of Interesting Species

* Hairy Woodpecker – 22 from 1982

* Red-headed Woodpecker 14 from 1984

* Eastern Bluebird – 68 from 1973

* Red-winged Blackbird – 613,841 from 1977 and 510,739 from 1978. (Since 1980, most individual blackbird numbers have not exceeded four figures.)