WILLMAR – December 2023 will go down in the history books as the warmest December in Minnesota history, the 2023 Willmar Area Christmas Bird Count shows.
“Open water was abundant on a few of the region’s larger lakes,” Joel Halbritter and Joel Schmidt, organizers of the event, wrote in their report on the 2023 count.
The open water made a difference. Volunteers spotted 13 different species of waterfowl on the count day, which was held on December 16. Five other species of waterfowl were observed in the days leading up to Dec. 16, but were not found on the day of the count, they reported.
This year saw 24 volunteers participate, with 19 going into the field and eight keeping their eyes on the feeders.
This marks the 62nd anniversary of the Willmar Area Christmas Bird Count and the 124th anniversary of the National Audubon Society's National Census.
Missy Moore/West Central Tribune
The Willmar area count was a fruitful one by all accounts. Volunteers counted 9,866 individual birds and 59 species overall.
This brings to 117 the number of species counted over the years in the Willmar area.
Three new species were counted and added to the annual bird census records. A white-winged scooter, double-crested cormorant, and snow goose have been observed.
White-winged scoters are native to the boreal forests of Canada, and are often observed migrating on the north shore of Minnesota. Double-crested cormorants are summer residents of western Minnesota, but are not observed as late in the season as winter birds. Snow geese migrate through the Dakotas and parts of western Minnesota.
Canada geese represent nearly half of the birds counted, numbering 4,597 birds.
Also indicative of the fair weather, this year's total includes 750 swans, 629 common golden swans, 173 common swans and 124 trumpeter swans.
Volunteers counted 1,371 European starlings, making the species second only to Canada geese in number.
Species counted in triple digits include rock pigeons (216), bluebirds (154), American crows (127), black-capped chickadees (289), white-breasted nuthatches (106), and cedar waxwings (119). Dark-eyed Junko. (179), the house sparrow (260), and the house sparrow (148).
Organizers thanked the volunteers and good turnout for making the 2023 bird count another successful citizen science endeavor for the Willmar area. The annual bird population picture helps scientists monitor the bird population in the country.
