Supporting the Big Muddy National
Fish and Wildlife Refuge
Bird List for the Christmas Bird Count at Boone's Crossing
Each year, Friends
of Big Muddy cooperates with the Audubon Society to help with a Christmas
Bird Count that is being held in the area around the Weldon Springs Conservation
Area. We have been assigned to count birds at the Boone's
Crossing Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge outside
of Chesterfield and some of the surrounding area near the Missouri River.
If you have never helped with a Christmas Bird Count, they are relatively simple. All birds that are seen in a 7.5 mile radius are identified by species (hopefully), and the total numbers of birds seen are recorded. While counts are held all across the United States and in some foreign countries, in this case, the intersection of Highway 94 and Highway 61 in St. Charles County is the central point, and the Boone's Crossing unit of the refuge is within the 7.5 mile radius. Beginning in 2004 after the refuge purchased thee Boone's Crossing Unit, Friends of Big Muddy has volunteered to count the birds on the refuge area and the adjacent city of Chesterfield lands. The total number of birds seen is tracked from year to year to get an idea of fluctuations in bird populations.
Below is the bird list for 2004/05 to the present. The first column for each year are the number of birds seen at the refuge unit or in the vicinity (the area north of Highway 40/61). The second column are the total number of that species seen for the entire count.
2004/2005 |
2005/2006 |
2006/2007 |
||||
| Species | #
at BC |
#
Total |
#
at BC |
#
Total |
#
at BC |
#
Total |
| Greater White-fronted Goose | 0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0
|
| Snow Goose (white form) | 0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
50 |
| Cackling Goose | 0 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
||
| Canada Goose | 12 |
1511 |
40 |
1851 |
61 |
1042 |
| Wood Duck | 0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
| Gadwall | 0 |
56 |
0 |
45 |
0 |
21 |
| American Wigeon | 0 |
15 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0
|
| Mallard | 0 |
464 |
38 |
527 |
8 |
248 |
| Northern Pintail | 0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0
|
| Lesser Scaup | 0 |
110 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
| Wild Turkey | 0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
14 |
| Northern Bobwhite | 0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0
|
| Great Blue Heron (Blue form) | 0 |
7 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
10
|
| Turkey Vulture | 0 |
6 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
14 |
| Bald Eagle | 0 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
| Northern Harrier | 0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 0 |
10 |
1 |
13 |
0 |
9 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 6 |
30 |
3 |
49 |
4 |
28 |
| Harlan's Hawk | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
| American Kestrel | 1 |
10 |
1 |
15 |
4 |
15 |
| Killdeer | 0 |
0 |
7 |
11 |
5 |
5 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 0 |
51 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
27 |
| Rock Pigeon | 0 |
2 |
4 |
175 |
41 |
87 |
| Mourning Dove | 15 |
352 |
2 |
84 |
2 |
68 |
| Great Horned Owl | 0 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
| Barred Owl | 1 |
12 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 0 |
9 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
7 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 0 |
34 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0
|
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 2 |
114 |
0 |
90 |
1 |
71 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 0 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0
|
| Downy Woodpecker | 10 |
86 |
2 |
84 |
17 |
49 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 2 |
22 |
1 |
13 |
1 |
42 |
| Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker | 1 |
68 |
4 |
71 |
7 |
54 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 2 |
32 |
3 |
15 |
4 |
19 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
| Blue Jay | 8 |
304 |
1 |
172 |
1 |
72 |
| American Crow | 15 |
180 |
14 |
302 |
4 |
217 |
| Horned Lark | 0 |
2 |
2 |
21 |
0 |
0
|
| chickadee sp. | 48 |
306 |
5 |
247 |
16 |
207 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 6 |
159 |
1 |
122 |
5 |
89 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 0 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 5 |
69 |
1 |
62 |
3 |
70 |
| Brown Creeper | 0 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| Carolina Wren | 2 |
103 |
0 |
69 |
7 |
54 |
| Winter Wren | 0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 0 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
6 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 0 |
90 |
0 |
123 |
1 |
116 |
| Hermit Thrush | 0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
| American Robin | 6 |
78 |
0 |
1403 |
6 |
417 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 |
17 |
0 |
29 |
1 |
10 |
| Brown Thrasher | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| European Starling | 256 |
1856 |
12 |
5306 |
13 |
1387 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 0 |
0 |
0 |
441 |
0 |
17 |
| Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler | 0 |
19 |
1 |
130 |
6 |
67 |
| Eastern Towhee | 0 |
20 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
| American Tree Sparrow | 0 |
7 |
2 |
126 |
13 |
21 |
| Field Sparrow | 17 |
24 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 |
26 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
11 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 |
87 |
6 |
181 |
4 |
103 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 8 |
56 |
0 |
29 |
2 |
34 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 0 |
280 |
0 |
323 |
40 |
220 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 0 |
12 |
0 |
43 |
0 |
10 |
| sparrow sp. | 0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
28 |
| Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco | 30 |
182 |
19 |
403 |
16 |
245 |
| Northern Cardinal | 29 |
397 |
10 |
195 |
11 |
205 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 0 |
20143 |
0 |
175 |
0 |
22 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 0 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Western Meadowlark | 0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Common Grackle | 0 |
8213 |
0 |
416 |
3 |
3 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 0 |
11 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
1 |
| blackbird sp. | 3125 |
13625 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
| Purple Finch | 0 |
21 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| House Finch | 0 |
2 |
0 |
33 |
0 |
15 |
| American Goldfinch | 0 |
260 |
5 |
168 |
1 |
80 |
| House Sparrow | 0 |
20 |
0 |
111 |
0 |
5 |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | 0 |
42 |
0 |
87 |
0 |
10 |
| Total Individual Birds | 3614 |
49683 |
196 |
13932 |
338 |
5655 |
Total Species Identified |
28 |
72 |
31 |
70 |
33 |
58 |
We do plan on doing this every year as the count is scheduled. Contact us for more information about the bird counts. If you are interested in counting birds at another of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge units near you, please also contact us. While it is not within the protocol for the formal Christmas Bird Counts, it will still help us as we compile bird lists for each refuge unit.
We do maintain a Yahoo Group to e-mail information about our activities a week or two before they happen, so if you would like to get these messages, send an e-mail to: FriendsofBigMuddy-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.