(For more information about Yukon Christmas Bird Counts see this page on our website: https://yukonbirds.ca/yukon-christmas-bird-counts/)
The 2023 Whitehorse Christmas Bird Count was both remarkable and rather ordinary. The weather was remarkably warm, as it has been all fall and for most of the past year – a sign of things to come no doubt. December 2023 was a full 10 degrees C warmer than December 2022. There was very little snow on the ground and plenty of open water. Together, these conditions should make life relatively easy for our resident birds – no pressing need to mob feeders during the day in order to survive the long cold nights.
It’s been easy for people too – 46 observers ventured out all over Whitehorse on Boxing Day to count in the balmy weather (temperatures right around freezing) and 12 watched their feeders.
When reports trickled in from all the observers, 3,047 birds of 25 species had been recorded. Over the years the number of species has ranged from 18 to 33, but the average is 25. Common Raven was the most numerous bird (no surprise…), followed by Common Redpoll, Pine Grosbeak, and House Sparrow in a very tight race for 2nd place. Strangely, there were no unusual birds found this year, save for a young Golden Eagle found at the landfill by Cameron Eckert and Lena Ware. We had expected all kinds of migrants to hang around to enjoy this weather and easy access to food. But there were no lingering juncos, sparrows, or American Robins to be found. One lonely merganser was the only duck on the Yukon River.
There were also remarkably few Bohemian Waxwings (21 – compare this to 4,023 last year!), likely a result of our warm, dry summer which led to a miserable crop of their favorite winter food – berries.
Bald Eagles, on the other hand, were flying around everywhere this year, including a pair checking out their(?) nest on the bluff along Robert Service Way. We had 89 in total, our second highest count ever.
Some of our regular winter residents were found in close to record numbers: Red Crossbills were found in many parts of town, enjoying the offerings at feeders, as were Canada Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, and House Sparrows.
Here’s the final bird list:
- Mallard 70
- Common Merganser 1
- Ruffed Grouse 1
- Spruce Grouse 1
- Golden Eagle 1
- Bald Eagle 89
- Downy Woodpecker 2
- Hairy Woodpecker 2
- American Three-toed Woodpecker 2
- Canada Jay 27
- Black-billed Magpie 109
- American Crow 3
- Common Raven 1693
- Black-capped Chickadee 147
- Mountain Chickadee 1
- Boreal Chickadee 47
- Red-breasted Nuthatch 7
- American Dipper 9
- Bohemian Waxwing 21
- Pine Grosbeak 206
- Red Crossbill 147
- White-winged Crossbill 33
- crossbill sp. 7
- Common Redpoll 213
- Hoary Redpoll 1
- House Sparrow 205
Total Individuals 3047
Total Species Reported 25
My sincere thanks to everone who took part in this year’s Whitehorse count. Looking forward to next year….
Participants:
Mackenzie Alain, Edward Allen, Tracy Allard, Aaron Baker, Bruce Bennett, Selena Boothroyd, Diane Brent, Laurie Brochu, Syd Cannings, Paul Davis, Loreena Dobson, Gabrielle Dupont, Cameron Eckert, Rob Florkiewicz, Trish Fontaine, Sam Gallagher, Jim Hawkings, Jane Haydock, Melody Hazel, Ed Jenni, Matt Kitchen, Cathy Koot, Greg Kubica, Lee Kubica, Pia Kukka, Maria Leung, Mary Ann Lewis, Rob Lewis, Bonnie Love, Elise Maltinsky, Meghan Marjanovic, Marina McCready, Karen McKenna, John Meikle, Valery Monahan, Dave Mossop, Marty Mossop, Randi Mulder, Wendy Nixon, Alex Oberg, Adam Perrier, Bec Reh, Don Reid, Gemma Richardson, Bob Sagar, Barbara Scheck, Becky Striegler, Jenny Trapnell, Lena Ware, Keith Williams, Scott Williams, Tegryn Williams, Mabel Wong
Here’s a complete report with more details:
WhitehorseCBC2023CountSummary