Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The number of birds spotted in the 2021 Audubon Christmas Bird Count dropped from historic numbers, possibly owing to biting cold weather on Dec. 15.

49 observers looked for birds around Haines and another nine spread out in a circle around Klukwan. The annual count is used as a barometer of the health of bird populations and more roughly as an indicator of changes in habitat, climate and other conditions.

The count tallied 2,526 individual birds and about 38 species. More than 90 species have been spotted in previous counts.

Conditions on Dec. 15 included temperatures down to seven degrees F., winds up to 45 miles per hour and 48 inches of snow on the ground. Birds and birders tend to seek refuge in such weather.

"The cold and snowy weather we're having this year suggests to me that we are seeing only those species that can survive those conditions," said birder John Norton, who organized this year's count. "Bird feeders may be the key to survival for many of our feathered friends in a year with such a heavy snow cover. Hardy birds like magpies, ravens and sea ducks seem to succeed in years such as this."

The most common sightings were seabirds, including goldeneyes (1,256), which were mostly Barrow's goldeneyes (720), followed by glaucous-winged gulls (209), black-billed magpies (118) and bald eagles (117).

Curiously, the sixth-most-spotted group of birds was feral pigeons (110). They outnumbered both common ravens (107) and Northwestern crows (53.)

That's not particularly good news, said Dan Egolf, a naturalist and tour operator who has led the Audubon count in past years. Ground-feeding of pigeons can spread disease in other bird populations and numbers of them attract ravens, which then start preying on smaller bird species and hatchlings.

A population of pigeons on Second Avenue near Willard Street often makes the tops of his tour buses look like the bottom of a bird cage, Egolf said. Hawks sometimes hunt pigeons at the spot.

Filling out the list of most counted species were chestnut-backed chickadees (86), dark-eyed juncos (63), redpolls (52), trumpeter swans (38), mallards (33), Steller's jays (27) and pine siskins (21).

Three species spotted up the highway but not in town included trumpeter swans, blue heron (1) and American dipper (1).

The drop from historic numbers was evident among some duck and seabird counts. For example, no surf scoters were counted, compared to 556 in 2012. The count of 33 mallards compares to 265 counted in 2019. At a total of 232 for all species, the numbers of gulls also was down from historic averages. In 2012, 1,945 gulls were counted.

A count of 21 pine siskins compares to 1,822 in 2014.

Bufflehead and goldeneye numbers were closer to normal, most counted in the calmer waters of Lutak Inlet.

Redpolls were one of the few species counted above historic averages. The 52 counted compares to just five years they've been seen at all during the Christmas count in the past 28 years.

Egolf spotted about 40 of them near the Takshanuk Watershed Council office at the end of Sawmill Creek Road. "I hadn't seen squat. I heard them first then saw them skitter down out of the sky," apparently after alder cones there.

A snowy owl spotting was another surprise of the count. The circumpolar raptors are typically found farther north, but in winter some migrate south to the northern United States.

Foul weather and scheduling complications following December landslide disasters limited the 2021 Audubon bird count in Haines.

The local count historically was held on a Saturday near the holiday but was moved to a weekday to include school classes. Egolf said the Haines students have done a good job. Klukwan School students also participated.

The next big birding event is Cornell Lab of Ornithology's "Big Day," a 24-hour counting event to be held this year on May 14. Egolf said spectacularly colored mountain bluebirds can be spotted at the old Army tank farm property on Lutak Road at that time of year.

He said he once counted 41 species during the "Big Day."

For a complete listing of birds spotted here during the Audubon count, as well as historic numbers and species spotted here, go to the Audubon website.