The 49th annual Crookston Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 19. This year, due to COVID restrictions and protocols, the count was not advertised ahead of time for extra volunteers, and veteran participants were contacted and assigned specific portions of the count circle. Counters were limited to one individual or one family pod per vehicle and the same for feeder watchers. Volunteer Compiler Tom Feiro thanked the 16 individuals who participated in this year’s count. Their results had to be dropped off at the compiler’s house or sent electronically. The Christmas Bird Count is coordinated by the National Audubon Society and the Minnesota Ornithologist Union. The volunteers count birds in a designated 15-mile diameter circle southeast of Crookston and in the community.
No records were broken this year, but it still ended with a respectable number of species counted. A total of 33 different species were observed on a very windy day that saw constant winds blowing from 20-30+ miles per hour. Those winds definitely affected the observations according to all participants.
A total of 1,877 individual birds were recorded on Saturday. The bright sunny day started at 0 degrees Fahrenheit and ended with a high of 22 degrees. There were seven teams that went out into the rural sections of the count circle in the morning and three of those counted within the Crookston city limits during the afternoon. Again, the number of people feeding birds through the winter has drastically declined over the years. There were five individuals who volunteered to watch the activity at their feeders.
The complete list of species recorded this year included: Canada Goose, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie Chicken, Bald Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Great Horned Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Merlin, Blue Jay, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven, Horned Lark, Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, European Starling, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, Dark-eyed Junco, Common Grackle, House Finch, White-winged Crossbill, Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin, House Sparrow, Wild Turkey, and a large-bodied Falcon species was spotted flying low over the prairies southeast of Crookston. The observer just could not get close enough to determine the exact species of that falcon.
Thanks to this year’s participants: Jeff, Laura & Ivy Bell – East Grand Forks, Gladwin Lynne – Warren; Emily Hutchins – Mentor; Leon and Donna Thoreson – Climax; and from Crookston, Jerry, and Heidi Fenno, Mike Christopherson, Dan Svedarsky, Loren Johnson, John and Lisa Loegering, Kim and Tom Feiro.
The 50th Annual Crookston Christmas Bird Count will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2021.
