Announcing the results of the Fall 2023 Migratory Bird Count

We are excited to share the official tally of bird species encountered during our annual bird count, along with the “running count” that includes birds observed over the past two days. This fall’s birding event was remarkable, with a grand total of 50 species recorded during the count. Adding the additional 7 species spotted in the running count, we reached an impressive total of 57 species! (See list of bird species below.)

This year brought us some extraordinary birding moments, which we attribute to the recent major storms that grounded much of the bird activity in the days leading up to the count.

With a decade now behind us, we’ve successfully completed our 10th year of the migratory bird count. The data collected during these ten years will serve as a valuable resource for analyzing trends in bird activity on our island.

Here’s the list of species we encountered in our Fall 2023 Migratory Bird Count.

Thank you to all who participated.

Fall 2023 Bird Count
American crow
American goldfinch
American kestrel
American redstart
American robin
Belted kingfisher (running)
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay
Brown thrasher
Black & white warbler
Bobolink (running and confirmed; congrats Tom!)
Carolina wren
Cedar waxwing
Chimney swift
Chipping sparrow (running)
Common eider
Common grackle
Common loon (running)
Common yellowthroat
Cooper's hawk
Double crested cormorant
Downy woodpecker
Eastern phoebe
Eastern towhee
European starling
Greater black-backed gull
Great blue heron
Golden-crowned kinglet
Gray catbird
Great egret
Herring gull
House finch
House sparrow
Laughing gull (running)
Mallard
Merlin
Mourning dove
Mute swan
Northern cardinal
Northern flicker
Northern harrier
Northern mockingbird
Red-bellied woodpecker
Red-tailed hawk
Northern rough-winged swallow
Osprey (running)
Savannah sparrow
Salt marsh sparrow
Swamp sparrow (running)
Song sparrow
Tufted titmouse
White-breasted nuthatch
White-throated sparrow
Yellow-billed cuckoo
Yellow warbler
Yellow-rumped warbler