They were busy counting in R.B. Winter State Park. Checklists, binoculars and bird identification books were in hot demand as visitors to the scenic Union County retreat pitched in for a feathered cause.

 

Head west to Parker Dam State Park, Clearfield County, or northwest to the Jennings Environmental Education Center in Butler County, and the scene was pretty much the same; birders—both novice and seasoned experts—eagerly counting the birds.

 

Over a four-day period, February 16-19, at least five state parks and environmental education centers helped visitors participate in the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Boosting that tally were species glimpsed by visitors to Nolde Environmental Education Center, Berks County, and Erie County’s Presque Isle State Park.

 

Organizers said the count this year featured two “invasions” of sorts: voracious pine siskins and a whole new crop of citizen-science participants. Bird watchers shattered last year's record by submitting more than 93,600 checklists during the four-day event, held Feb. 16-19.

 

The Great Backyard Bird Count is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, and sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited.

 

“Each year the GBBC provides the most detailed real-time snapshot of bird distribution across North America,” said Rob Fergus, Senior Scientist with the National Audubon Society. “We can see how birds are responding to changing weather patterns, available food sources, and other factors from around the continent.”

 

Noted this year was a massive invasion of pine siskins and white-winged crossbills over much of the eastern United States. These feisty little birds moved southward because of seed crop failures in their usual wintering grounds in Canada and the boreal forests. GBBC participants reported 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. White-winged crossbills were not as common, but their invasion was still impressive with 4,824 birds on 589 checklists representing a new record over the previous high of 2,854 birds on 135 checklists in 2007.

 

The GBBC continues to show declines in some common birds, especially grassland and shrub land species.

 

Loggerhead shrike numbers are down, and although numbers of Northern bobwhites and Eastern meadowlarks were both up slightly from last year, they are still being reported in fewer numbers during the GBBC than they were in 2004.

 

Species reported for the first time during the Great Backyard Bird Count included two oceanic species—ink-footed shearwater and Xantus's murrelet, both in California. Other first-timers included Baird's sandpiper, black-billed cuckoo, and Blackpoll warbler. Two rare Mexican species appeared on GBBC checklists from Arizona for the first time: the first Sinaloa wren ever found north of the border, and a blue mockingbird.

 

“I just love the way this event opens up a new world for so many people," says Cornell Lab of Ornithology Citizen Science Director Janis Dickinson. "We have grandparents counting with their grandchildren, elementary school classrooms doing the GBBC as a special project, nature centers taking visitors out on bird walks. And adults who never noticed birds before are suddenly smitten!”

Top 10 most-frequently reported birds in 2009: Northern cardinal, mourning dove, dark-eyed junco, American goldfinch, downy woodpecker, blue jay, house finch, tufted titmouse, American crow and black-capped chickadee.

 

For a more detailed summary of this year's results, visit the GBBC website.

 

The next Great Backyard Bird Count is February 15-18, 2010.