Now that we have all of our Christmas Bird Count (CBC) data in, and have sent that off to National Audubon, it’s time to share a few more details from this year’s count. The warm weather for the 2025 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) helped our 77 folks in the field record an incredible 6,604 birds from 55 species, and then our 41 feeder-counters added another 981 birds plus one additional species for a final total of 7585 birds representing 56 species.  Our historical average over 57 years has been around 48 species, so this was a banner day.  With regard to getting out and really covering the territory, special recognition goes to the Mestaa’ehehe team that covered 15.3 miles on foot.  Kudos to those guys!

So, what stood out as a bit different this year?  For starters we only missed a few of our somewhat regular species – Golden Eagle, Cedar Waxwing, and American Tree Sparrow.  We also had low numbers for Cassin’s Finch and American Goldfinch.  Additionally, some of our Dark-eyed Junco subspecies numbers were down for Gray-headed, Slate-colored, and White-winged Junco.   White-winged Juncos are an interesting story in that they are generally regarded as the most range-restricted of the Junco subspecies, breeding primarily in the Black Hills and wintering only slightly to the south of there.  There have been many years when the Evergreen-Idaho Springs CBC has had the White-winged Junco high count for the nation due to their occasionally wintering here.

Moving on, we set new high numbers for Brown Creeper (74) and Pine Siskin (864) and tied our previous high for Northern Saw-whet Owl (1).  Needless to say, that’s a lot of Creepers and Siskins!  Additionally, we had several sightings that merit special recognition.  First of all, without the Brook Forest East team we would have been skunked on Canada Goose, and additionally they got the highest numbers for Mountain Chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches. The Brook Forest West team got our only White-winged Juncos and almost 200 Pine Siskins; the Evergreen East team our only Wilson’s Snipe plus a slew of American Dippers; the Clear Creek team our only Woodhouse’s Scrub Jays; the Idaho Springs East team our only Rock Pigeons; the Mestaa’ehehe team our only Pine Grosbeaks; and the Kerr Gulch team our only Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Especially notable were the Upper Bear Creek team that found Dusky Grouse, Bald Eagle, and Merlin, and the Genesee team that picked up a Spotted Towhee and got to enjoy a Northern Saw-whet Owl eating a mouse.  Finally – drum roll, please – we added a new species for the count.  Two Williamson’s Sapsuckers were found in different parts of the count circle, one in Evergreen West and one in Genesee.  This brings the total number of species seen on our CBC during our 57-year history to 118.

Each year we hope to learn that we have had the most Mountain Chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches for the nation – a bit of a friendly competition.  In that regard we have been the Mountain Chickadee champs for sixteen years running, and we’ve been the Pygmy Nuthatch champs several times in that same period.  Last year’s 1,022 Mountain Chickadees and 1,510 Pygmy Nuthatches were the highest numbers recorded nationally, and with this year’s 1,040 Mountain Chickadees and 1,210 Pygmy Nuthatches we are well placed to retain our national preeminence.  Last year we also had the highest count from the Interior West for White-breasted Nuthatch (192).  Speaking of species high counts nationally, over the past five years Colorado, which has roughly fifty Christmas Bird Count circles, has averaged 20 high counts nationally per year and each year 7 of those have been due to our Evergreen-Idaho Springs CBC.  We should take a little pride in that.

In getting things organized this year, special thanks go out to our area leaders who got their crews through the day: JoAnn Hackos, Chris and Holly Marr, Emma Vasicek, Chuck Aid, Megan and Kyle Schulze, Ed Furlong, David Wald, Timo Mitzen and Rob Raker, Kathy Madison and Steve Garman, Ron Belak, Connie St. Clair and Pete Durfee, Keri Bowling, and Larry White.  And special thanks to our Feeder-Counter Coordinator, Chris Marr.  We had one part of our count circle, Idaho Springs West, that did not get done this year for lack of someone to take it on, but that will hopefully be rectified next time around.

Finally, it was wonderful to, once again, end our day of bird counting with a glorious evening of good fellowship, great food, and LIVELY data compilation at our Tally Rally.  Truly a wonderful end to the day!  Many thanks go to Chris and Holly Marr for hosting the Tally Rally; to Jenny and Jim Powell for helping coordinate parking; to Mac McIntosh and Marjorie Berman for helping set things up; to Rachel Hutchison and Holly Marr for making the chili; to Dan Roddy, Kathy Madison, and Steve Garman for handling KP duties; to all those who contributed to the potluck and brought photos to share; and extra accolades to Chris and Holly Marr who did a fantastic job compiling our field data.

Bird species observed during the 2025 Evergreen-Idaho Springs Christmas Bird Count, the average number seen from 1969 to 2024, and the high count and year recorded for each species.  Bolded entries are high counts recorded in 2025.

	Number per Year			Historical High Count
Common Name	1969-2024	2025		number	Year
Cackling Goose	<1			2	08
Canada Goose	7	2		70	90
Trumpeter Swan	<1			2	19
Wood Duck	<1			1	93/07
Gadwall	<1			1	10
American Wigeon	<1			2	96
Mallard	59	35		248	12
Northern Pintail	<1			1	96/98
Green-winged Teal	<1			1	81
Common Goldeneye	<1			1	18/19
Wild Turkey	43	30		119	19
Dusky Grouse	<1	2		12	94
Chukar	<1			1	80
Rock Pigeon	71	2		212	81
Eurasian Collared-Dove	6			81	15
Mourning Dove	<1			3	16
Wilson’s Snipe	1	1		4	78/91/00
Great Blue Heron	<1			1	88/90
Black-crowned Night Heron	<1			1	09
Golden Eagle	3			10	23
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	2		9	05
Cooper’s Hawk	<1			2	09/18/20
American Goshawk	1			3	72/87/11
Northern Harrier	<1			2	04
Bald Eagle	1	2		6	08
Red-tailed Hawk	17	30		47	17
Rough-legged Hawk	1			11	98
Ferruginous Hawk	<1			2	85
Great Horned Owl	2	6		8	19
Northern Pygmy-Owl	1	3		6	20
Long-eared Owl	<1			1	74/82
Northern Saw-whet Owl	<1	1		1	several
Belted Kingfisher	2	2		6	04/23
Lewis’s Woodpecker	<1			1	23
Williamson’s Sapsucker	<1	2		2	25
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	<1			1	80/23
Am. Three-toed Woodpecker	1	3		8	24
Downy Woodpecker	34	44		81	22
Hairy Woodpecker	53	97		119	22
Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker	22	90		77	22
American Kestrel	1	1		4	87/12
Merlin	<1	1		2	10
Prairie Falcon	<1			1	82
Loggerhead Shrike	<1			1	several
Northern Shrike	4	3		5	23/24
Canada Jay	13	11		53	77
Pinyon Jay	4			200	72
Steller’s Jay	288	423		647	21
Blue Jay	<1			1	95/00
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay	4	8		18	11
Clark’s Nutcracker	30	117		131	23
Black-billed Magpie	213	348		413	17
American Crow	752	630		1,683	18
Common Raven	129	151		241	23
Black-capped Chickadee	87	132		187	18
Mountain Chickadee	545	1040		1,062	22/23
Hybrid Chickadee	<1			2	13
Juniper Titmouse	<1			1	82
Horned Lark	<1			4	86
Bushtit	1	1		17	15
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	<1			2	83/91
Golden-crowned Kinglet	4	6		33	18
Bohemian Waxwing	33			580	80
Cedar Waxwing	6			163	87
Red-breasted Nuthatch	59	198		250	23
White-breasted Nuthatch	83	183		192	24
Pygmy Nuthatch	545	1210		1,881	22
Brown Creeper	16	74		74	25
Canyon Wren	1	0		5	81
Pacific Wren	<1			1	22
Winter Wren	<1			2	75
Pacific/Winter Wren	<1			1	71/73
Gray Catbird	<1			1	18
Brown Thrasher	<1			1	Several
Northern Mockingbird	<1			1	78
European Starling	124	81		301	00
American Dipper	18	22		37	87
Mountain Bluebird	<1			2	92
Townsend’s Solitaire	75	132		202	82
American Robin	128	269		1,500	72
House Sparrow	91	26		377	00
Evening Grosbeak	130	85		420	95
Pine Grosbeak	17	18		103	14
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch	106	2		429	83
Gray-crowned (Gray-crowned) R-F	104			429	83
Gray-crowned (Hepburn’s) R-F	2			60	09
Black Rosy-Finch	6			70	04
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch	15			140	04
Unknown Rosy-Finch	13			200	90
House Finch	197	275		546	05
Cassin’s Finch	158	35		519	14
Redpoll (Common)	3			30	70
Redpoll (Hoary)	<1			1	12
Red Crossbill	68	119		643	82
White-winged Crossbill	<1			16	70
Pine Siskin	218	864		864	25
American Goldfinch	15	5		176	00
Lapland Longspur	<1			6	23
Cassin’s Sparrow	<1			1	71
Chipping Sparrow	<1			1	12
Clay-colored Sparrow	<1			1	83
Fox Sparrow	<1			1	Several
American Tree Sparrow	2			37	84
Dark-eyed Junco (All subspecies)	604	507		2,171	16
Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Junco	192	207		708	19
Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco	83	31		276	79
Dark-eyed (Pink-sided) Junco	27	61		253	16
Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco	83	25		293	75
Dark-eyed  (White-winged) Junco	49	3		232	73
Dark-eyed  (Cassiar) Junco	<1			7	16
White-crowned Sparrow	<1			1	Several
Golden-crowned Sparrow	<1			1	93
Harris’s Sparrow	<1			2	80
White-throated Sparrow	<1			1	84/06/18
Song Sparrow	6	9		18	22
Spotted Towhee	<1	1		4	75
Red-winged Blackbird	65	154		586	91
Brown-headed Cowbird	<1			1	09
Brewer’s Blackbird	<1			15	12
Common Grackle	<1			4	23
Great-tailed Grackle	<1			1	07
Yellow-rumped Warbler	<1	2		13	15
Number of Species	118	56		4	25