Mitchell SD 2021 Christmas Bird Count Results

Count Summary

This year’s count took place on Sunday, December 26, 2021 and was the ninth consecutive year to hold the count since reinstatement.

On the day of the count the skies were cloudy. Day time temperatures started at 13° F and rose to 35° F. The maximum wind speed was 22 mph out of the east. There was no open water other than some moving water.

A total of 25 people participated although many were small children. We had 4 groups of people who birded in the field and 7 groups that watched their feeders. Field groups spent 28 hours in the field observing birds.  In comparison the feeder watchers spent 27.75 hours watching birds at their feeders.

We had a total of 2,610 birds composed of 38 species for the count day. Both the total number of birds and number of species were lower than past years. There were an additional 3 count week species. Count week species are seen 3 days before or after the count day but not on the count day. The most abundant species was the red-winged blackbird at 450.

We added two new species to the count.  A peregrine falcon was seen during count week. A red shafted flicker was seen count day. Some misses included mallard, cooper’s hawk, merlin, lapland longspur, and snow bunting. The only rare species were the peregrine falcon and the red-shafted flicker.

Of note was the short-eared owl which hadn’t been seen on the count since the 1966.

Even though numbers were low, we had numerous high counts.  They include northern harrier (2), bald eagle (10), rough-legged hawk (37), black-capped chickadee (78), white-crowned sparrow (2), purple finch (15).

I’ve composed the following tables:  Counts for the Year, Participants for the Year, Counts by Year, and Effort by Year.

Counts for the Year

The following table contains counts for the Mitchell CBC. CW designates count week birds.

Species

Total

Snow Goose

CW

Canada Goose

CW

Wild Turkey

105

Ring-necked Pheasant

261

Rock Pigeon

128

Eurasian Collared-dove

70

Mourning Dove

2

Northern Harrier

2

Sharp-shinned Hawk

1

Bald Eagle

10

Red-tailed Hawk

8

Rough-legged Hawk

37

Great Horned Owl

5

Short-eared Owl

1

Red-bellied Woodpecker

9

Downy Woodpecker

30

Hairy Woodpecker

9

Northern Flicker

1

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)

4

Northern Flicker (red-shafted)

1

American Kestrel

1

Peregrine Falcon

CW

Blue Jay

39

American Crow

18

Black-capped Chickadee

78

Horned Lark

11

Red-breasted Nuthatch

8

White-breasted Nuthatch

21

Brown Creeper

5

European Starling

447

American Robin

152

Cedar Waxwing

45

House Sparrow

357

House Finch

25

Purple Finch

15

Pine Siskin

1

American Goldfinch

75

American Tree Sparrow

41

Dark-eyed Junco

60

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

39

White-crowned Sparrow

2

Western Meadowlark

1

Red-winged Blackbird

450

Northern Cardinal

12

passerine sp.

23

Participants for the Year

The Mitchell CBC wouldn’t have been possible without the help of all of these volunteers.

Full Name

Field

Feeder

Mavis Anderson

Field

Feeder

Chris Anderson

Field

 

Mike Blaalid

Field

 

Hazel Blaalid

Field

 

Oliver Blaalid

Field

 

Jeanne Blaalid

Field

 

Anne Cross

Field

 

Ryan Cross

Field

 

Ellie Cross

Field

 

Maggie Cross

Field

 

Hunter Dunteman

Field

 

Oakley Hague

 

Feeder

Ella Hague

 

Feeder

Doug Hansen

Field

 

Jeff Hansen

Field

Feeder

Rick Hansen

Field

Feeder

Amanda Hegg

Field

 

Dennis Leland

Field

Feeder

Sheri Leland

Field

Feeder

Libby Olson

Field

 

Bonnie Orr

 

Feeder

Letha Rowley

 

Feeder

Barb Stolz

 

Feeder

Garrett Walter

Field

 

Tammy Wheeler

 

Feeder

Counts by Year

This table contains counts by year for the last 10 years of the Mitchell CBC. Note, zero denotes count week species.

Species

1967

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Snow Goose

 

 

 

0

 

0

 

 

7

0

Canada Goose

 

0

50

0

24

0

 

 

4

0

Wood Duck

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gadwall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

Mallard

43

 

225

2

 

 

 

40

 

 

Redhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

Lesser Scaup

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ruddy Duck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

Wild Turkey

 

104

294

88

162

30

168

215

111

105

Greater Prairie-chicken

 

10

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

Ring-necked Pheasant

3

194

137

366

141

221

34

146

97

261

Rock Pigeon

 

112

495

435

131

631

55

323

545

128

Eurasian Collared-dove

 

68

95

54

179

37

35

45

85

70

Mourning Dove

 

9

1

0

2

 

0

 

 

2

Northern Harrier

 

1

 

 

1

 

0

 

 

2

Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

5

2

3

2

2

 

2

3

1

Cooper’s Hawk

 

2

1

3

2

2

1

1

4

 

Northern Goshawk

 

3

 

1

 

 

 

2

1

 

Bald Eagle

 

8

3

6

6

8

1

9

3

10

Red-tailed Hawk

 

15

24

19

28

21

0

31

26

8

Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan’s)

 

 

 

 

1

 

0

 

 

 

Rough-legged Hawk

1

16

3

2

20

11

1

6

18

37

buteo sp.

 

 

 

 

 

1

1

 

 

 

Eastern Screech-owl

 

4

1

 

1

2

 

6

2

 

Great Horned Owl

3

4

10

2

5

7

0

14

10

5

Snowy Owl

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barred Owl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

Long-eared Owl

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short-eared Owl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Northern Saw-whet Owl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

Belted Kingfisher

 

 

1

0

 

 

 

1

 

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker

 

5

9

9

8

5

4

13

9

9

Downy Woodpecker

2

19

30

32

27

18

9

34

15

30

Hairy Woodpecker

 

5

17

16

13

11

5

12

10

9

Northern Flicker

 

21

8

20

27

6

9

12

6

1

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)

1

 

 

 

 

6

5

 

2

4

Northern Flicker (red-shafted)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

American Kestrel

 

3

1

2

6

3

 

4

4

1

Merlin

 

2

 

 

2

1

 

3

 

 

Peregrine Falcon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

Prairie Falcon

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

1

 

falcon sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

1

 

 

Northern Shrike

 

8

3

2

1

1

 

3

6

 

Blue Jay

1

59

37

46

73

37

20

73

70

39

American Crow

90

12

54

57

15

10

17

32

17

18

Common Raven

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black-capped Chickadee

6

32

39

34

24

15

11

53

40

78

Tufted Titmouse

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horned Lark

100

43

255

444

4

368

60

70

220

11

Golden-crowned Kinglet

 

2

1

1

4

 

 

3

1

 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

 

3

3

3

12

1

2

2

10

8

White-breasted Nuthatch

1

10

17

20

20

6

5

22

19

21

Brown Creeper

 

8

7

1

 

 

0

2

1

5

Carolina Wren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

 

European Starling

130

1339

286

445

6559

689

47

832

1188

447

Brown Thrasher

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

Eastern Bluebird

 

 

 

4

5

 

 

0

 

 

Townsend’s Solitaire

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

5

 

 

American Robin

 

1746

39

561

261

118

14

6

204

152

Cedar Waxwing

 

174

52

153

70

157

84

140

76

45

House Sparrow

1000

360

292

749

687

809

73

336

277

357

House Finch

 

61

33

108

49

128

38

27

115

25

Purple Finch

 

 

 

7

1

 

0

0

4

15

Common Redpoll

 

 

45

7

 

97

4

 

2

 

Red Crossbill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

 

White-winged Crossbill

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

Pine Siskin

 

0

16

22

 

24

12

17

53

1

American Goldfinch

6

29

57

197

292

132

18

139

163

75

Lapland Longspur

1200

46

133

32

30

50

20

 

 

 

Snow Bunting

 

5

1

55

 

 

 

8

 

 

American Tree Sparrow

220

67

52

141

456

413

11

49

433

41

Dark-eyed Junco

 

278

96

136

83

172

50

123

100

60

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)

43

 

 

 

 

36

14

28

54

39

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

4

 

 

 

 

8

 

4

1

 

White-crowned Sparrow

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

1

2

Harris’s Sparrow

14

 

 

5

1

1

 

6

11

 

Song Sparrow

 

2

3

 

1

1

 

 

4

 

Spotted Towhee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Western Meadowlark

 

4

 

3

6

 

 

 

9

1

Red-winged Blackbird

 

5720

597

410

1212

1230

285

106

10122

450

Brown-headed Cowbird

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

2

13

 

Rusty Blackbird

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

19

 

 

Common Grackle

13

3

1

2

 

 

 

 

20

 

blackbird sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

506

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

 

3

 

0

 

1

 

 

 

 

Northern Cardinal

4

14

29

26

27

21

6

23

29

12

passerine sp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23

 

2885

10639

3560

4737

10682

5552

1121

3058

14733

2610

Effort by Year

This table contains effort for all years of the Mitchell CBC.

Count Date

Count Year

Field People

Field Hours All

Feeder People

Feeder Hours

Count Day Species

Count Week Species

Count Species Total

Bird Total

12/23/1957

1957

2

9.00

 

 

25

0

25

1377

12/30/1966

1966

1

9.00

 

 

20

0

20

463

12/31/1967

1967

1

9.00

 

 

20

0

20

2885

12/26/2013

2013

17

52.50

6

13.25

47

2

49

10639

12/26/2014

2014

9

42.75

11

34.25

49

0

49

3560

12/26/2015

2015

20

37.25

14

29.00

49

6

55

4737

12/26/2016

2016

17

48.00

15

32.75

45

0

45

10682

12/26/2017

2017

17

47.00

4

13.00

42

2

44

5552

12/26/2018

2018

9

10.25

5

21.00

32

6

38

1121

12/21/2019

2019

13

47.50

17

29.00

51

2

53

3058

12/26/2020

2020

19

34.00

9

22.75

50

2

52

14733

12/26/2021

2021

17

28.00

11

27.75

38

3

41

2610

Thank You

I’d like to give a big “Thank You” to everyone who helped with the count. This is a GROUP effort. All who participated should be very proud of their work.

If you know anyone who would like to help with the count next year, send me their contact information so they can be included in all communications.

Jeff Hansen
CBC Compiler
jeff.hansen.sd@gmail.com
785.806.6917

Kentucky Coffee Trees at Mitchell Indian Village

Discovery

While leading a native plant walk at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village in Mitchell South Dakota, Jeff discovered some Kentucky Coffee trees growing in a draw at the village. He knew they did not occur naturally this far north or west. The closest natural occurrence of them is in the very southeastern part of South Dakota.

Indian Involvement

Indians were known to use the seeds of the Kentucky Coffee trees. Is it possible they brought the trees to the Mitchell area over one thousand years ago? Learn more about the cultural uses by Native Americans.