27 Dec 2022 Christmas Bird Count Results are In!
Christmas Bird Count
St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery
December 18, 2022
4:45-6:00 pm
Much deserved credit given to the St. Johns County Audubon for performing this count annually, not only in our rookery, but throughout the county! The Christmas Bird Count was initially established in 1900 to encourage bird conservation by counting, instead of hunting, birds on Christmas Day. This citizen science annual event now occurs in over 20 countries and many area counts have been ongoing since its inception, resulting in a signifcant amount of compiled data used to monitor population trends, within scientific publications, and other analyses.
Please note that this count was performed in the early evening as the wading birds flew in to roost for the night. These numbers are not typical during a winter day when breeding season is not in progress (February-July), but typical at night.
1 Mourning dove
4 Laughing gull*
1 Ring-billed gull*
5 Wood stork
3 Anhinga
2 Brown pelican*
2 Great blue heron
69 Great egret
270 Snowy egret
500 Little blue heron
134 Tricolored heron
1 Cattle egret
2 Green heron
6 Black-crowned night heron
5 Yellow-crowned night heron
1235 White ibis (estimated by 5 count)
26 Roseate spoonbill
1 Osprey*
1 Cooper’s hawk*
1 Bald eagle*
1 Belted kingfisher*
1 Downy woodpecker+
1 Eastern phoebe+
1 Ruby-crowned kinglet+
18 Red-winged blackbird+
79 Common grackle+
5 Yellow-rumped warbler+
1 Yellow-throated warbler+
*= fly over
+= on zoo grounds
Thank you St. Johns County Audubon! Your efforts are greatly appreciated!