Getting ready for fall banding

You may recall when I first started writing this blog a year ago, some of my first posts were on the work involved getting the net lanes ready for the banding season. These past couple of weeks, we've been doing some work that will hopefully make the annual prep less of a chore.

On 1 July, I had a team of volunteers out to lay down weed barrier in the net lanes, after my co-worker Rick Simek had so kindly killed the earliest growth of vegetation and most recently mowed what re-sprouted. These people made fast work of this job! It took less than half a day to cut, lay down, and anchor about a thousand feet of landscape cloth!

Andy Dettling, Darrin O'Brien, Sheri Smith, Linda Patterson,
and Jerry Mitchell after a job well done!

Here's what the project looked like as we worked (from front
to back, Linda, me bustling around, and Andy).

On 6 July came the task of spreading a layer of wood chips on the cloth. The cloth is slightly translucent, and without some cover, weeds could still grow underneath. This is a HUGE job, but the soonest we could get a large group of volunteers was early August. So, a handful of people also turned up to at least get a layer spread. The wood chips were generously donated and delivered by the City of Dearborn's Scott Racer, in a very large truck.

No messing with dump trucks. Most of the loads came directly from the big chipper.

The City of Dearborn has a gem in Scott Racer, who delivered at least 10
loads of wood chips. Thanks also to his boss Bruce Yinger.

Darrin O'Brien, Jerry Mitchell, Mike Lapko, Karen Gref, Linda Patterson,
and Mike O'Leary still smiling after hauling at least 10 yards of wood chips.

In late July and early August, two more groups of students spread still more chips. This resulted in a shallow layer over all of the landscape cloth. Finally, on 3 August, an energetic and enthusiastic group of Ford Motor Co. volunteers finished up the job.

Part of the Ford crew. These guys were amazing! In this photo Noori
Pandit, Bob Sawyer, Anatoli Dubovitskiy, Mario Iaquinta, Franco
Ragazzi and Joe Mantle. Photo by Steve Lake, who I appointed leader
because he and Noori showed up first!

This was an enormous undertaking, with about 170 hours of volunteer work contributed; I lost track of how many giant loads of chips were donated. All of this represents a donation of at least $3000 of time and materials. This is how the Rouge River Bird Observatory thrives, so to all who helped, my heartfelt appreciation!

In the next week, I'll be doing some pruning, checking and repairing the fencing that excludes the deer, and putting up the nets. Fall 2009 banding -- our 18th fall season -- begins on 17 August.

More European Goldfinches

Update: This paper has been published! It's open access so you can read online or download the PDF; click on title below -

Craves, J.A., and N.M. Anich. 2023. ­­­Status and distribution of an introduced population of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region of North America. Neobiota 81:129-155. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.81.97736

On the heels of my recent posting on a report of a family of European Goldfinches in Waukegan, Illinois comes another report with photo documentation of a juvenile "EUGO". This one is from a the Racine, Wisconsin suburb of Mt. Pleasant, about 25 miles north of Waukegan.

An adult was first seen at the observer's feeder in June, although neighbors had seen multiple EUGOs at their feeder (and I have many reports from the Racine area). On 9 and 22 July, a young bird showed up, at times with an adult, and these were among the photos obtained:

Juvenile European Goldfinch, Mt. Pleasant, WI.

Left, adult European Goldfinch. On the right, the juvenile European Goldfinch on the left side of the sock, and an American Goldfinch on the right side.

Here is a map of the southern end of Lake Michigan; the counties reporting the most European Goldfinches are outlined in red. McHenry County in northern Illinois is the suspected point of release of many of the birds.


Keep those reports coming.

Photos copyright J. Scheef. Used with permission.

European Goldfinch update

Update: This paper has been published! It's open access so you can read online or download the PDF; click on title below -

Craves, J.A., and N.M. Anich. 2023. ­­­Status and distribution of an introduced population of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region of North America. Neobiota 81:129-155. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.81.97736

Earlier this year, I posted about a paper I wrote summarizing sightings of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the Midwest. A population is apparently established in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin.

I just received a report from a resident of Waukegan, IL, about 10 miles from the Wisconsin border. She hosted four adult European Goldfinches last year, and up to eight this spring. On 20 June, she reported an adult with two youngsters in her yard. On 22 June, she saw four young with two adults, and sent these photos.

I've had a handful of reports of nesting European Goldfinches from Illinois or Wisconsin since 2003, but only two with photo documentation. This Waukegan report is the most detailed and the first definitive report away from the "epicenter" of sightings in McHenry Co., IL, which is about 40 miles west of Waukegan.

As they do in their native range, European Goldfinch nest in May and June, which is earlier than American Goldfinch. However, in Europe and Asia, they raise two broods, sometimes three, so nesting in the two species here in North America could overlap.


As you can see, the juveniles are superficially like dull or female American Goldfinch, but any good look will reveal the jet black wings with large yellow wing patches. Young European Goldfinch lack the red on the face and the head pattern of the adults. The Waukegan host will be watching to see when the young birds acquire the red faces of adults, (should they continue to come to her feeders) which I expect to happen sometime in the fall.

I welcome further reports of nesting European Goldfinches!

See also this update from July 2009.

Photos copyright E. Powell. Used with permission.

Spring 2009 Survey Season Summary

The spring 2009 survey season took place from 9 April through 9 June. There were surveys on each morning for the first 57 days, and two of the last four days. On campus, 140 species were recorded (another 17 were recorded in Dearborn off-campus). This is nearly 6% greater than the previous five-year average of 133 species. The peak calendar week was 17 through 23 May with 95 species, and the peak day was 18 May with 86 species.

Weather
In contrast to some recent spring seasons, spring 2009 seemed fairly "normal." The National Weather Service noted (PDF) that in Detroit, average tempertures for March through May were just a degree above normal, while rainfall was nearly 3.5 inches above normal. Most of the precipitation was in April; May was slightly below normal. Most noticable to me was the steady progression of vegetation leaf-out and blooming that was not interrupted by extreme cold (as in 2007) or abbreviated by extreme heat. Insect emergence and growth seemed normal. Although anecdotal, it appeared to me that food resources for migrants were adequate to abundant.

Arrival dates
While I track arrival dates for all migrant species, I especially focus on 43 regularly-occurring and conspicuous migrants. Of those, three species arrived earlier than had been previously recorded for Dearborn: Ruby-throated Hummingbird on 1 May (previous date, 1 May), American Redstart on 30 April (previously 1 May), and Indigo Bunting on 28 April (previously 29 April). Two species tied their record early arrival date: Tennessee Warbler on 29 April, and Black-throated Blue Warbler on 30 April.

Extremes are interesting, but deviation from a more typical arrival date is probably a more accurate depiction of any shift in migratory phenology. I have 14 to 16 years of spring arrival dates for nearly all of these 43 species. There are a number of ways to calculate central tendency (or the "expected" middle value of a data set). For simplicity's sake in this example, I calculated the arithmetic mean, or average arrival date for each species to compare to this year's arrival dates. For the 43 species:

• Four (9%) arrived on their average arrival date.
• Seven (16%) arrived later than average (the average for those species only was 2.4 days later)
• Thirty-two (74%) arrived earlier than their average arrival date (for those species, the average was 5 days earlier).
• For all 43 species, arrival time averaged 3.3 days earlier than "usual."
  

Most instructive would be an analysis of any shift in peak arrival periods, or the dates in which different percentiles of each species peak (e.g., the date each year in which the first 20% of Ovenbirds of the season have been recorded). I am in the process of computerizing all of our spring survey data back to 1994. Soon, I will have completed the input of 10 years of data, and will begin some preliminary analyses.

Highlights
There were a number of species represented by only one to a few sightings. Often this is due to a lack of habitat on campus so that visits or flyovers are rare (Common Loon, American Bittern, Grasshopper Sparrow). A few are just rather cryptic and hard to see, hear, or identify (Philadelphia Vireo, Connecticut Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow). Some species occur annually or nearly so, but are at the edge of their range in southern lower Michigan, and are often considered "good birds." This year, they were Hooded Warbler (3 birds) and Summer Tanager (3 birds). Prothonotary Warbler is a species that does occur in the region but only locally, and 2 different birds were recorded this season. Falling somewhere between lack-of-habitat and actually-rare was a single Grasshopper Sparrow recorded on 18 April.

Species that in past years have typically been more common but were only seen once or a few times this spring were Red-headed Woodpecker, Acadian Flycatcher, Golden-winged Warbler, and Rusty Blackbird. All of these species are also declining regionally, if not range-wide.

You can look over the summaries of each week here at Net Results for more highlights.

Missing on campus, and with only one report in the city this spring, was Orchard Oriole, normally seen every year. The most surprising miss this spring was Willow Flycatcher. This is a typically common species, but was not definitively recorded this year. It is likely they were actually present, as a number of non-singing Empidonax flycatchers were seen, but without hearing them they can't be distinguished from the similar Alder Flycatcher. Overalll, Empids in general seemed scarce. The three most common species (Least, Willow, and Alder) were down 43% from last year. Their numbers were roughly the same as the previous 5-year mean, but a longer look-back period would be most useful and these calculations have not been adjusted for effort.

The most numerous species by number of individuals counted was Brown-headed Cowbird, a species which has made monumental increases the last few years. Four or five years ago, we'd expect to count around 200 in a spring season. This jumped to over 300 the next couple of years, then over 1000 last year to 1671 this year. I suspect that overwinter survival in the city has something to do with this, as numbers have been increasing recently due to the presence of the sunflower fields around Dearborn.

Other numerous species were American Robin and Northern Cardinal, also with over 1000 tallied. Yellow-rumped Warbler came in fourth place at 946, while American Goldfinch rounded out the top five at nearly 900 counted.

In general, numbers seemed to be improved from the last couple of years, but peak numbers of warblers, for instance, were not impressive. Twenty-nine warbler species were recorded, but only 9 species had peak numbers over 10 individuals and all of those were 20 or fewer individuals except for Yellow-rumped Warbler, which had a high count of 129 on 30 April.

More interesting trends will no doubt be revealed once I get all the years of survey data computerized and dumped into a stats program. I'll also be able to produce some fairly detailed charts on peak migratory times for many species.

Many thanks to Darrin O'Brien, Greg Norwood, Jim Fowler, and Mike O'Leary who assisted with surveys this spring.

I'll be working on data input and some other projects, mostly in front of the computer, over the summer and will be posting periodic updates here. Then fall banding kicks off in mid-August!

Spring surveys: Week 9, final edition

The transition from migration season to breeding season is essentially complete. For the week ending today, 55 species were recorded on campus on 4 survey days. Nearly all were resident or locally breeding species.

True passage migrants were:

• Swainson's Thrush (8 June, a new late date for spring in Dearborn by one day)
• Magnolia Warbler (4 June)
  

And local breeders (although not on-site) were:

• Broad-winged Hawk (6 June)
• American Redstart (4 June)
• Common Yellowthroat (5 June)

With thick foliage concealing often-silent females, finding late migrants is often a matter of luck. Birding at this buggy time is enough of a challenge that many people quit going out late in May. I have June records for most northern migrants, and I'm sure they are probably more common than even these records indicate. I'll still go out and see what I can find a few times in the next week or so, but the formal spring survey period is over. In my next post, I'll be summarizing the whole season.

Spring surveys: Week 8

We're in the final stretch of spring migration. In fact, the week ending 3 June will be the last 7-day survey week of the season. The next 7-day period will be surveyed 4 or 5 days, but since things are winding down, I feel I need to sleep past 5 AM for the first time in a month!

This week, 74 species were recorded on campus. There are still northern/boreal-nesting birds trickling through. They included

• Olive-sided Flycatcher (2 June)
• Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1 and 3 June)
• Swainson's Thrush (28 and 31 May on campus, but through the period at my house in east Dearborn)
• Magnolia Warbler (30 May)
• Canada Warbler (29 and 31 May).

Other species of interest that nest regionally, but not on-site, included

• Acadian Flycatcher (30 and 31 May)
• Veery (31 May)
• Chestnut-sided Warbler (28 May)
• American Redstart (30 and 31 May and 3 Jun)
• Ovenbird (28 and 29 May)
• Mourning Warbler (3 on 31 May, 2 on 1 June)
• Common Yellowthroat (31 May, 2 on 3 June)
• Hooded Warbler (28 May).

Of interest to me was the reappearance of Brown Creepers. I'd been seeing them regularly through the early part of migration at the north end of campus near the Rouge River. One in particular was singing up a storm. The last time I heard or saw one was 3 May. Then one showed up near the usual place on 28 May, and two were together there on 3 June. We've had nesting records before, so I am keeping my eyes peeled for a whole family.

Spring surveys: Week 7

This past week saw a reduction in the numbers and diversity of birds, with 80 species recorded on campus. Daily species totals ranged from 38 to 58, with an average of 51. Nearly every day had wind directions from the north or east, which are not conducive to good migratory flights. As might be expected this time of year, the trees are fully leafed out, more female migrants are present, and the combination of hard-to-see and not-singing made for a challenge.

Of the 18 warbler species recorded in the past week, the highlight was a female Connecticut Warbler on 26 May. Unfortunately, it was seen briefly and not relocated. The dominant
warblers are the mid- and late season varieties: American Redstart, Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, and Blackpoll Warbler, although numbers are small.

The other "good bird" was the third spring 2009 record for Summer Tanager, this one a female on 23 May. It was also seen briefly before disappearing.

Kingbirds have finally been on the increase, but small Empidonax flycatchers are still scarce. Both species of cuckoos have been seen this week, with the first Yellow-billed Cuckoos arriving on 22 May. On 25 May, three were seen together -- and one was carrying a stick, perhaps preparing to build a nest.

There are still a handful of Swainson's Thrushes being found every day. Other lingering migrants include Black-throated Green Warbler (one heard today) and White-crowned Sparrow (an individual recorded nearly daily up through yesterday).

Spring surveys: Week 6

Seven days of surveys yielded 95 species on campus for the week ending 20 May. We tallied over 80 species on both 16 May (82) and 18 May (86, our season high so far). On 18 May, there were 23 species of warblers recorded, with the only regular expected species missing being Cape May.

New spring arrivals this week included Lincoln's Sparrow on 15 May; Black-billed Cuckoo, Blackpoll Warbler, and Mourning Warbler on 16 May; and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher and Olive-sided Flycatcher on 17 May. Also notable were American Woodcock and Golden-winged Warbler on 18 May.

The last couple of days clear nights with south winds swept most of the migrants away, and we await another wave. Flycatchers remain quite scarce. We've had very few Eastern Kingbirds, one Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and only a couple of sightings of Alder/Willow Flycatchers. Least Flycatchers have been consistent, but we've not recorded more than three on any day. Also conspicuous in their rarity have been Yellow Warblers, which are typically very common. Five has been our top count. Black-throated Blue Warblers are usually less abundant, but have also been rare this spring so far.

Elsewhere in Dearborn...
The big stony vacant lot at the corner of the Southfield service drive and Rotunda has been Dearborn's shorebird "hot spot." On 14 May, a Dunlin and a Semipalmated Sandpiper showed up there. These were both 3rd city records. All week there were plovers (up to 10) as well as one to five Least Sandpipers. Another Dunlin showed up on 20 May for the fourth city record. Horned Larks have been regular, American Pipits have been seen several times, and on 15 May a Northern Mockingbird was seen running around catching bugs!

Among the lumps and rocks, small shorebirds can be tough to see. Several of us have been checking the lot daily. Sometimes visits 20 minutes apart can yield completely different results!

"Psst. I think someone is watching us." Two Semipalmated Plovers.

Dunlin

Other faunal news...
Truly odd was this Beaver photographed by Mike O'Leary at the Greenfield Village oxbow pond. We'll see how much tree trimming the Village allows!

Spring surveys: Week 5

Surveys were completed every day for the week ending 13 May. The week began rather dismally, but a total of 97 species were tallied on campus by week's end. There were some highlights:

• An Osprey snagging a fish from Fairlane Lake on 8 May.
• A Peregrine falcon flyover on 12 May.
• A Red-headed Woodpecker counted on the North American Migration Count on 9 May.
• Hooded Warbler, also found on that count.
• The second Summer Tanager of the season on 10 May.

Twenty-one warbler species were found during the week, although only Yellow-rumped Warblers and Nashville Warblers were counted in two-digit numbers. The day with the highest warbler diversity was on 12 May, with 16 species.

Mid-migration has been stalled. There were few new arrivals this week: Blackburnian Warbler on 8 May, Eastern Wood-Pewee on 9 May, Bay-breasted Warbler on 10 May, and Orange-crowed Warbler on 11 May.

Weather fronts favorable for migrant movement were just not happening this past week, but things look set to change for the next few days. We should see the rest of the expected migrants, as well as larger numbers.

Dearborn's North American Migration Count

The North American Migration Count takes place the second Saturday each May. It aims to take a "snapshot" of migration, and is compiled on a county basis. My husband Darrin is the coordinator for Wayne County, and we covered the city of Dearborn together on May 9.

The first half of the day was spent scouring the U of M-Dearborn campus -- my daily spring bird survey deluxe. Joining us was our good friend and RRBO supporter Jamie Jacob. A cold front was approaching, and while the first hour or so was okay, the winds quickly kicked up, making it difficult to hear or see birds. As I indicated in my last spring survey post, birding has been a bit slow lately. We ended up with just 76 species for the campus. Our highlights were a Hooded Warbler in the floodplain along the Rouge River, and a Red-headed Woodpecker in the swampy area near the river at the north end of campus. It was one of only 14 warbler species seen on campus. The first Eastern Wood-Pewee of the season was found. There was an obvious increase in the number of Baltimore Orioles and White-crowned Sparrows over the last few days.

Julie and Jamie, hitting the trails.

After campus, we checked out all the various sunflower/wildflower plantings around the city. The sunflowers are, of course, all spent and sagging. The wildflower fields have all been recently mowed, and several fields were not planted last year at all. Thus, they did not have ideal habitat. But we were hopeful for shorebirds at some of the fields with large puddles -- there have been Least Sandpipers in a couple recently. But we were skunked other than Killdeer and Spotted Sandpiper. The wetland area near the Ford Rouge Complex visitor center is really maturing, and we had a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds and Northern Rough-winged Swallows. After these locations and a few others, time was running out. Darrin wanted to hit Grosse Ile, and I still had to roam around our neighborhood (where I had 30 species).

The species total for Dearborn was 83. Here is our list:

Canada Goose 67
Wood Duck 3
Mallard 10
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 7
Green Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 6
Cooper's Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer 13
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Ring-billed Gull 39
Herring Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 9
Mourning Dove 35
Chimney Swift 11
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 11
Downy Woodpecker 12
Hairy Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 9
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Least Flycatcher 3
Eastern Phoebe 5
Great Crested Flycatcher 4
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 59
American Crow 2
Tree Swallow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 25
Cliff Swallow 6
Barn Swallow 13
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
House Wren 14
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Veery 2
Swainson's Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 3
American Robin 165
Gray Catbird 18
Euro. Starling 261
Cedar Waxwing 6
Tennessee Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 21
Yellow Warbler 4
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 4
Black-and-white Warbler 4
Ovenbird 4
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Hooded Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 4
Chipping Sparrow 11
Savannah Sparrow 11
Song Sparrow 11
White-throated Sparrow 4
White-crowned Sparrow 78
Northern Cardinal 34
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 11
Indigo Bunting 8
Red-winged Blackbird 46
Common Grackle 27
Brown-headed Cowbird 59
Baltimore Oriole 33
House Finch 5
Pine Siskin 2
American Goldfinch 43
House Sparrow 94

Spring surveys: Week 4

This week, 92 species were recorded on campus. Most of the new arrivals and good numbers occurred early in the week. By week's end, diversity and abundance were petering out, with only 46 species and under 300 individuals being recorded today (versus 73 species and nearly 700 individuals on 2 May). So most of the early-season migrants have moved out, and the mid-season wave has not yet arrived.

Some notable species were a flyover Common Loon on 4 May and a Summer Tanager on 3 May. The Red-headed Woodpecker was last seen on 30 April, and the Prothonotary Warbler on 2 May.

Spring bird walks

The Environmental Interpretive Center is having four Saturday morning bird walks. Registration is required. I've posted the details here.

Spring surveys: Week 3

Surveys took place on 6 of the 7 days between 23 and 29 April, with 28 April being a washout. Ninety species were recorded for the week, with 76 species being recorded on 26 April. A highlight was two Prothonotary Warblers. One was seen on 26 April by the boathouse of Fair Lane Estate. Another, which seemed paler than the first, perhaps a female, showed up on Fairlane Lake on 29 April. This photo was taken that day by Don DeKraker, who also shot the lovely Red-headed Woodpecker below. This bird first appeared at the EIC feeders on 28 April, and is still hanging around. There have been fewer than a half-dozen records of Red-headed Woodpecker in the last ten years here.
A couple of other notable rarities were found this week. The best bird was a Grasshopper Sparrow found in the community organic garden at the north end of campus on 24 April. The day before, a Rusty Blackbird was in a puddle next to a parking lot.

As expected there were lots of new spring arrivals over the week. Notable were an Indigo Bunting on 28 April, a new early date by a day and a Tennessee Warbler on 29 April that tied the early spring date.

Spring surveys: Week 2

A total of 58 species were recorded on campus this week. The nice weather over the weekend produced some first-of-the-season species: Green Heron, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Brown Thrasher. Two Blue-winged Teal were seen on Fairlane Lake, also on the weekend. Today, a Sandhill Crane flew over campus.

Cool and dreary weather returned on Monday, and migration has been nearly on hold. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are beginning to outnumber Golden-crowned Kinglets, and there are still some Pine Siskins around, but the numbers and variety of migrants has been sort of at a standstill. But it looks like things are about to change. Skies will clear tonight, but the wind won't turn to the south until tomorrow night. Beginning Friday, we should see a nice movement of migrants. The cool weather has slowed down leaf-out, so they will be easy to see in the coming days.

Spring surveys: Week 1

The first week of campus spring surveys has been completed. It's felt like early March out there, and the diversity and numbers of birds have reflected the weather.

A total of 51 species were recorded. The only FOS (first of season) bird recorded was Yellow-rumped Warbler, with 7 recorded on 14 April. Other highlights included four Ring-necked Ducks on Fairlane Lake on 13 April, a flyover Peregrine Falcon on 14 April, and a lingering Red-breasted Nuthatch all week.

There are a handful of Pine Siskins around, and most are hanging around the pine trees by the estate. I've seen them chasing each other around and engaging in courtship flight, so they may be nesting there.

Brown Creepers can be fairly common, if unobtrusive, spring migrants here, but two have been seen consistently for several weeks near the Rouge River on the north end of campus. We do have nesting records here, so perhaps these are also breeders.

There have been a few Hermit Thrushes and a couple of Winter Wrens, but now they are starting to sing, which is quite a treat. The warm weather is supposed to begin tomorrow, so I expect many more first arrivals in the coming days. I'll be out of town this weekend, but the surveys will be well-handled by Jim Fowler and Jerry Sadowski.

Good birding!

Daily bird surveys available

I started my daily spring bird surveys last week. I follow a standardized route, and I put my results into eBird, where you can view them by selecting View and Explore Data, Week Report (choose a date), Hotspots in Michigan. Note that there are multiple listings for the natural area here on campus, because other people also put their sightings into eBird. My survey route hotspot is UM--Dearborn--Rouge River Bird Observatory.

Nearly every day, I do extensions to my standard route. I also put these in eBird, but they are not public hotspots. Results are included in daily totals, and I report highlights on RRBO's Latest Sightings page.

Thrush paper published

My paper on the fall stopover ecology of thrushes has finally been published. In addition to all the time it takes to collect data, analyze it, and write a good paper, actually getting it out for all to see is one LONG process! I submitted the paper in April 2008. It went out for peer review, came back to me so that I could respond to questions and comments from the reviewers, and went back to the editors, who approved it in August 2008. Then came the process of checking page proofs for errors and scheduling publication. So at long last, it is in the current issue of the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.

Craves, J. A. 2009. A fifteen-year study of fall stopover patterns of Catharus thrushes at an inland, urban site. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 121:112-118.

You can see the publicly-available abstract and tables at BioOne. I wrote a brief summary of the work last fall here at Net Results.

Banding in Nicaragua: The Birds

As a follow up to my introductory post, I'd like to share some highlights of the birds at Finca Esperanza Verde, and the importance of shade coffee to their survival.

Even more so than the areas we visited in Panama last year, Finca Esperanza Verde and other shade coffee farms are critical to preserving biodiversity of birds and other wildlife in Nicaragua. We were stunned at the deforestation. It's not due to human development, but to agriculture (mostly non-commercial) and cattle grazing. Shade coffee farms appeared to be one of the only land uses that preserved a lot of trees.

During our brief stay, we counted well over 100 species, including nearly two dozen species of migratory songbirds that breed in North America but winter in the tropics. Over 30 species of migrant songbirds have been recorded at the finca, and the overall bird list is approaching 300 species.We observed or banded several species new to the finca ourselves. We banded about 70 birds of over 30 species at Finca Esperanza Verde. For most of the time, we were banding right in the coffee production area.

Here's where we banded. The shorter dark green

shrubs in the foreground are coffee, interspersed with
taller native trees providing shade and habitat.

You know you're off to a good start when the
first bird you band is a Collared Trogon
(Trogon collaris).

The most common North American migrants banded at FEV are Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Ovenbird. Although we captured multiple individuals of those species, we rarely if ever saw the other species, with the exception of Wood Thrushes, in our birding walks through the finca. On the other hand, Baltimore Orioles, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and Tennessee Warblers were very common in the coffee production areas, but we didn't capture any. This underscores how well banding supplements surveys for censusing an area. Other common North American migrants included Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and Summer Tanager. The species I've listed in bold are among the 25 priority species targeted by the MoSI program.

Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) are the most commonly banded birds at the finca -- migrant or resident.

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris).

Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum).

My husband Darrin weighing a bird with a spring scale.

At times, it was all a blur!

Kentucky Warbler (Oporornis formosus).

Although a limited number of birds have been banded at FEV, especially compared to stations operating for more days per year, between-year recaptures are beginning to occur. North American migrants which have returned to the same tiny areas to spend the winter include Wood Thrush, Wilson's Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Kentucky Warbler. The fact that these birds are showing strong wintering site fidelity emphasizes the importance of habitat preservation in the tropics. By extension, it also suggests that shade coffee is providing habitat that is worth "coming back to" for these migrants, and that the habitat quality is sufficient that the birds were in good enough shape on departure to survive their northbound journey and consequently return the following year.

Wilson's Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla), a species
showing wintering site fidelity at the finca,
being recaptured in multiple winters. We
also found them common in shade coffee farms in
Panama.

Resident birds are being recaptured between winters,
too. Here Curtis shows off a recaptured Spot-
breasted Wren -- he banded this bird
himself at FEV two years previously!

It's pretty cool seeing familiar birds in unfamilar lands, and especially interesting to see Tennessee Warblers sharing a tree with Keel-billed Toucans, or Chestnut-sided Warblers hopping around with Elegant Euphonias (we also called these "Extraordinary," "Superlative,"or "Especially Elaborate" Euphonias). And seeing tropical birds in the hand is even cooler. Only North American migrants received U.S.-issued bird bands. Resident birds got special site-specific bands, since there is no established banding entity in Latin America coordinating the banding programs there. For each resident bird, we took extensive notes on plumage, measurements, and breeding condition. There is no standard reference for how to determine the age and sex of most tropical birds (in fact, there is no field guide for Nicaraguan birds), or detailed information on life cycle events. All of this data is valuable!

Crimson-collared Tanagers were one of my favorite resident
birds that I banded. But they sure did bite!

Also vying for top spot was this brilliant Blue Bunting.
FEV is at the southern edge of their breeding range,
and this was the first recorded for the finca.
The next day, we caught a female.

Darrin's favorite was this Rufous-browed Peppershrike,
a tropical member of the vireo family. How about
those orange eyes?

We caught and measured, but did not band, a number of species of hummingbirds. The most common was Long-billed Hermit, shown above. We also handled Violet Sabrewing, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Stripe-throated Hermit, Violet-crowned Woodnymph, and Stripe-tailed Hummingbirds. I've written more about the resident birds we banded, and given some further details on how FEV compares with other shade coffee farms, at my blog Coffee & Conservation -- with more colorful photos, too!

Once again, I am struck by the importance of shade coffee to birds and biodiversity. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, with an unemployment rate over 50%. Outside of the few urban areas, there is little work other than farming. Growing quality coffee under shade in an ecologically responsible way requires a lot of extra work for farmers who are essentially trying to provide for their families after decades of devastating civil war. Many Nicaraguan farmers don't consider the effort worth it -- because consumers are not willing to pay more than a few cents extra for organic or shade-grown coffee.

I can't state it any plainer than this: if you are buying inexpensive, grocery-store coffee you are contributing to the destruction of bird habitat and the decline of migratory songbirds. Bird conservation and great coffee are two of my passions -- and they go hand in hand. That's why I began writing Coffee & Conservation, where you can learn more. On Saturday, May 16, there will be a "Caffeinated Conservation" bird walk here on campus focusing on the connection between coffee and migratory birds; watch the EIC web site for more details.

Banding in Nicaragua: Introduction

Sunset at Finca Esperanza Verde.

I'm back from Nicaragua. It was a busy and rewarding trip, and as promised I'll share with you some highlights of the banding we did at Finca Esperanza Verde (FEV), a shade coffee farm in the central highlands east of Matagalpa. Although it is a widely used tool in North America, bird banding in Latin America is limited by a severe lack of funding, materials, and trained personnel. This situation should be of concern to bird lovers here in the U.S. -- remember that most of "our" breeding birds spend more time on the ground in the tropics in winter than they do here in the breeding season. Yet very little is know about the winter ecology of our birds in the tropics, or its link to overall population health.

To address these questions, the Institute of Bird Populations (IBP) started a program in 2002 called MoSI (the acronym comes from the Spanish "Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal" or Monitoring Overwintering Survival). Around 150 bird banding stations are located across the American tropics, and the goal is to learn more about physical condition, habitat use, and survivorship over the winter, and how various factors impact subsequent breeding activity. The protocol for these stations requires banding for five, three-day periods each winter. Currently, there are not enough trained banders in the area to operate a bona fide MoSI station at FEV, but any data on the winter ecology of migrant and resident birds is helpful. At FEV, this was the fifth year of a banding project initiated by John Connors and John Gerwin of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Shade coffee at Finca Esperanza Verde. Can you tell
what is coffee and what is natural vegeation?

Most people are aware that deforestation is a big problem in Latin America, and much of it is due to agriculture. Coffee is an understory shrub that naturally grows under the shade of other trees. These types of coffee farms provide very good habitat for birds and other biodiversity, often closely resembling the composition of fauna in natural forests. However, in the last decade or so new types of coffee have been developed that can be grown without the protection of shade, in higher densities, and with higher yield. This "sun coffee" not only results in forests being cleared for intensive coffee growing, but these varieties require high levels of fertilizer, pesticide application, and deplete tropical soils. Thousands of acres of forest in Latin America have been cleared for growing "sun coffee." Bird research -- including bird banding -- has helped us understand the importance of shade-grown coffee to migratory and resident birds. I have read a lot of this research, but nothing can quite compare to participating in it myself!

Mariamar and my husband Darrin get ready to process
a bird at the "Yellow Trail Banding Station" at
Finca Esperanza Verde.

We joined Curtis Smalling, biologist with North Carolina Audubon and Mariamar Gutierrez, Central American coordinator for MoSI for two days of banding in a section of the coffee farm that had not been maintained in several years. After that, we were joined by Dr. Lynn Moseley and her students from Guilford College for three days of banding in the active coffee production area. During breaks, the students heard short lectures on tropical ecology, birds, and the various uses of banding. Curtis talked about monitoring breeding birds in North Carolina through the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship program, also run by IBP. Mariamar talked about MoSI. And I gave a talk about how I use banding to do stopover ecology research.

Here I am discussing RRBO's work on stopover
ecology with other members of the group from Guilford
College.

And here I am having my talk interrupted by local
campesinos who use this trail to travel between
villages.

We banded for a couple hours each morning, and a couple of hours in the late afternoon, avoiding the mid-day warmth. The first couple of days we were limited in the number of nets we could open because of windy conditions. Despite our modest efforts, we banded about 70 birds of over 30 species, both residents and wintering migrants. In my next post, I will talk about what species we banded and post more photos!

Learn more:

• This article in Living Bird discusses the MoSI program, featuring Nicaragua.
• The problems with "sun" coffee.
• Birds and coffee plantations.
  

A tropical adventure

A trip to anywhere in the tropics is always high on my list of great things to do. Over the last 7 years or so, my husband Darrin and I have volunteered our time to a number of organizations operating in the tropics -- usually doing bird surveys or otherwise assisting local ecologists. Our newest opportunity will be next week in Nicaragua.

The bulk of our time will be spent in the montane coffee-growing region of Matagalpa. Some of you know that I have a passion for excellent coffee, and write an entire website devoted to the issues surounding sustainably-grown coffee. Coffee grown under shade in an eco-friendly manner is critical for tropical biodiversity, and for so many of the migrant birds that breed in North America and winter in the tropics. Those of you who are members of Cornell's Lab of Ornithology may have seen the recent article on shade coffee in BirdScope in which I was quoted.

Darrin and I have been invited to participate in an on-going bird banding project initiated by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. In Matagalpa we will be visiting Finca Esperanza Verde (FEV), a shade coffee farm near the village of San Ramon (click on the map to enlarge). We will be banding first with other researchers, and then assisting a group of college students from North Carolina. This project helps to document the birds that use the finca -- both resident species and those that nest in North America but winter in the area, or are on their northbound migration. For example, the most frequently banded North America wintering species at the finca is the Wood Thrush. One of our North Carolina colleagues, Curtis Smalling of North Carolina Audubon, will be working specifically with Golden-winged Warblers.

We will not only band birds, but of course also observe and census birds at FEV. Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, NC sources coffee from FEV and other farms in the San Ramon area; coffee from FEV was one of the top ten coffees in the prestigious 2007 Cup of Excellence program. I'll be providing feedback to Counter Culture about the birds on the farm. I'm excited to admit that I assisted Counter Culture with their choice of the Emerald Toucanet as the bird on their Cafe San Ramon packaging (left). Darrin and I have seen this species at other shade coffee farms in Panama, and knew it was on the finca's bird list.

After we leave FEV, we will be traveling back toward the colonial city of Granada, near the shores of Lake Nicaragua. After a few birding stops en route, including another shade coffee farm, we will be settling in for several days at Domitila, a private wildlife reserve. Domitila represents one of the last and best preserved dry tropical forests in the country. At both FEV and Domitilia, we will be conducting insect surveys, focused on dragonflies and damselflies, to assist with the Insects of Nicaragua inventory being conducted by the Museo Entomológico de León (Entomological Museum of Leon). There is still much to be learned about Nicaraguan insects now that the country is peaceful after so much civil war. We can attest that even well-studied countries like Panama turn up surprises. On our last two trips there, we photographed at least one undescribed species of damselfly, and took the first photograph of a live specimen of another species that was described over 30 years ago. Who knows what we might turn up in Nicaragua!

When we return, I will be writing an article on the importance of shade grown coffee to birds, incorporating my experiences, for Birder's World Magazine.

Of course, I will also share as much as I can with you here at Net Results. Be patient: for most of the trip, we will not have Internet access (or electricity, or hot running water!), so I will have to wait to return home to post updates when I am not busy catching up and getting ready for spring migration.

Winter Bird Population Survey, Year 17

I have always hated winter. I don't like being cold and have always found Michigan summers far too short. But here I am, and when life gives you lemons...you know the story. When I first started working here at UM-Dearborn, I began a standardized winter bird survey. This makes it the longest-running survey by the Rouge River Bird Observatory. I have just completed year number 17. I cleverly called this endeavor the Winter Bird Population Survey, since it was patterned after the Winter Bird Population Study protocol, developed many decades ago. In short, I walk through the campus natural areas roughly twice a week between 20 December and 20 February, always completing my survey before noon, and record every bird I encounter. The final tally includes the average number of individuals encountered per visit (abundance) and the number of visits in which a species was encountered (frequency of occurrence). This all sounds very mundane, and generally it is in the short run. But the beauty in long-term data is often not seen for many years. In 1992, who would have anticipated the importance of counting such a common and ubiquitous species as the American Crow? For an entire decade, I dutifully counted crows, woodpeckers, and chickadees, birds I encounter so often that I sometimes had to concentrate on actually "seeing" them. The occasional Northern Shrike or even Fox Sparrow were much more fun and interesting. Then came West Nile virus and suddenly -- no crows. The profound impact of this disease on local crow numbers would not be quantifiable without the years of baseline data. After ten years of fluctuating but generally stable numbers, the average number of crows per visit was just under 12. The winter after the first breeding season in which West Nile virus occurred (2002), I counted a total of only 18 crows, which worked out to 1.2 crows per visit. I haven't counted double-digits over an entire winter survey period since then. This winter, I only recorded crows on one survey, when I saw four birds. The average for the past seven years has been 0.5 crows per visit, a drop of 96%. My many years of data have also revealed interesting trends in the numbers of woodpeckers, once ash trees began to succumb to Emerald Ash Borers. I'm also able to look at numbers of overwintering robins and how their numbers change over the course of a season and the decline of American Black Ducks here in winter. Other species don't seem to reveal anything particularly compelling...yet. In the 17 years of the survey, I've averaged 38 species a year. This year I had a record 45 species. Remarkably, four were new to the survey:

• Common Goldeneye (photo below) -- not unusual in winter on the Rouge River, but a first for campus;
• Red-shouldered Hawk-- first record in Dearborn for December or January;
• White-winged Crossbill --part of the remarkable irruption I discussed in my last post; and
• Brown-headed Cowbird.

The cumulative total for the WBPS is now 67 species. Thirty-one species have been seen in 12 or more years (70% of the years) and are thus considered our core winter residents. Eleven species have been recorded only once, with the rarest being last year's Hoary Redpoll. I tend to begrudge every time I have to bundle up and spend the next several hours in the cold counting birds. I knew when I started the WBPS that a long-term data set would have applications in tracking numbers of resident birds. But already seeing interesting and relevant results has certainly helped motivate me to get out the door on some of those bitter mornings. Hoping to count crows.

A winter of finches

Every so often, a long cold winter is made worthwhile when we get visitors from the boreal north. I'm talking about "winter finches." A number of species move south when their preferred food source becomes scarce in the northern parts of their range. These birds all have a few favorite tree seed species, and trees tend to produce seeds in cycles (up for one or more years, down for another one or a few). This helps us predict when we might see certain winter finches, and in what numbers. The folks in Ontario create an excellent, detailed winter finch forecast every fall. I encourage you to read a recent copy to get a feel for which bird and tree species are involved.

This winter has been terrific for winter finches. The most impressive and special has been the push of White-winged Crossbills. While they are found nesting in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, they are very rare in southern lower Michigan; Dearborn had only a handful of records before this winter. This year, they've been found in nearly every county and in big numbers. It's unlikely an event like this will ever occur again in my lifetime. I've had big flocks in my neighborhood, even my yard, but a reliable group has been working the Douglas firs at a local office building (White-winged Crossbills specialize in soft cones like spruces, hemlocks, and some firs). Here is a male (above) and female (below) taken there by Mike O'Leary.

Pine Siskins were some of the first finches to arrive in early winter and have stayed around in large numbers -- they are often present at feeders. While a couple individuals are found every year, we have not had this type of invasion here in Dearborn since the late 1970s. Pine Siskins will sometimes nest in southern areas after a big invasion year, so I will not be surprised to hear of some breeding in southeast Michigan this summer. We have had only a handful of siskins at any one time here on campus, but scores of them at our feeders at home a few miles away. So far, we've banded over 60 the last couple of weekends. Some are dull, but some are quite beautiful when you get to take a look in the hand.

Common Redpolls have also been very abundant. On campus, they have been busy extracting the tiny seeds out of the small cones on the black alders around Fairlane Lake. Few have come to the feeders. At home, we've had only a few at our feeders as well. Here are a couple of males -- young males and females tend to have little or no pink on the breast.

Last but not least is Purple Finch. We usually see a few Purple Finches every fall during migration. This fall was no exception, but we have heard few reports of many Purple Finches in the area in the subsequent months. It seems like they passed by, went somewhere else, or didn't make it this far south in any numbers. This is the only one I've seen, a male at my feeder. That's a male House Finch below it. Notice the distinct curve to the upper bill of the House Finch. It's quite straight in a Purple Finch, and a good structural clue to telling the two species apart. Here is a guide to identification.

I admit, I loathe winter. But knowing I could easily find and observe these special species has made going out not only bearable, but actually a lot of fun.

European Goldfinch: established in the U.S.?

Update: This paper has been published! It's open access so you can read online or download the PDF; click on title below -

Craves, J.A., and N.M. Anich. 2023. ­­­Status and distribution of an introduced population of European Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region of North America. Neobiota 81:129-155. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.81.97736

In the fall of 2002, Ford Motor Company planted sunflowers on a 20-acre lot they owned at Hubbard and the Southfield Freeway (M-39) service drive, near their world headquarters. Ford has continued to plant sunflowers, sorghum, and/or a wildflower mix on up to 10 properties scattered across Dearborn. 

The fields have always attracted a lot of birds -- I wrote about the numbers seen on this year's Christmas Bird Count. The very first winter the original field hosted an unusual bird: a European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis), a bird not native to North America. European Goldfinches are common in the pet trade, and it's not too unusual to hear about sightings of escaped or released pets. Unlike members of the parrot family, European Goldfinches are very hardy and can survive northern winters. The sighting occurred during a time when I had been hearing more and more reports of European Goldfinch sightings, especially in the Chicago area. Curious, I posted a page on the RRBO web site requesting sightings from the upper Midwest. I also kept my eyes on the various Internet birding lists and regional publications.

That there were a lot of European Goldfinches out there readily became apparent. I compiled over 400 reports, of which 298 were from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. There was a clear concentration in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, a pattern of radiation from the "epicenter" that was more pronounced north than south, and a smattering of reports over the rest of the four states.

It is believed that the bulk of these European Goldfinches -- as well as a handful of other European cage bird species that were reported in the same areas -- originated with a bird importer in the greater Chicago area. From a number of independent reports I received, this importer had apparently deliberately released these species on more than one occasion over time. Believe it or not, as long as the birds are legally imported, there is no federal law prohibiting their release, even if they are not native.

Since 2003, there have been reports of nesting European Goldfinches in northern Illinois. They may also be nesting in southern Wisconsin. Great Tits (Parus major), another one of the species involved in the alleged releases, have also nested in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois! European Goldfinches nest earlier in the year than American Goldfinches and appear to be ecologically benign, although non-native species frequently end up having unanticipated impacts on ecosystems. Whether the breeding population will grow and persist is not known. In the early part of the 20th century, there were a couple of established colonies in New York, founded by deliberate releases. They eventually died out. However, the proliferation of non-native plant species -- many of which are the natural foods of European Goldfinch -- may prove to be a boon for the species this time around.

I don't believe the majority of the Michigan sightings (or the many Ontario reports I've gotten) of European Goldfinches are attributable to same source. The geographic and chronological patterns do not seem to fit. Some are likely just escaped pets. Many others may be deliberately released birds. Some pockets of reports came from areas with higher populations of people that practice eastern religions, which sometimes advocate setting birds free to accrue merit in the afterlife. Employees at my own local pet store, which often carry European Goldfinches for sale, reported to me that these and other cage birds are sometimes purchased by people of various ethnic backgrounds with the intention of releasing them. I presume this is the source of the Dearborn European Goldfinch.

I ended up writing a detailed account of the reports I received, including background on the ecology and history of European Goldfinches in the U.S. and additional information on their future, in a paper that was just published in North American Birds; you can click on the link to download a PDF copy:

Craves, J. A. 2008. Current status of European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) in the western Great Lakes region. North American Birds 62:2-5.


List of updates on this post:

• June 2009: Nesting European Goldfinch in Illinois.
• July 2009: Nesting European Goldfinch in Wisconsin.

Photo of European Goldfinch in France by Daniel (ParaScubaSailor) at Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Dearborn CBC

RRBO has been coordinating the Dearborn portion of the Detroit River Christmas Bird Count (CBC) since 1995. The count is held each year on New Year's Day. This year, the 53 species found in Dearborn on count day tied our previous high total. A Wood Duck at the Ford Rouge Plant was a new species for the Dearborn portion of this count. The big news this winter has been the push of White-winged Crossbills into our region. Unfortunately, none were found on count day, but they were found in several locations in the days following the count, so they are added as "count week" birds. This is also a new species, bringing the cumulative species total to 85. Here's a photo of a male crossbill taken by my husband Darrin O'Brien in our east Dearborn back yard on 3 Jan. We were lucky enough to have a flock of 26 crossbills, and a few Pine Siskins, visit the spruce trees.

One of the annual challenges is counting the hoards of birds that hang out at the nine or so sunflower/wildflower fields planted by Ford Motor Company around Dearborn. After trying several strategies, we now devote a single team (usually Darrin and I) to spend most of the day concentrating on getting accurate counts of birds in the fields. This helps prevent double-counting if the birds move from field to field, and allows a team to spend the necessary time to make good estimates on what are sometimes very sizable flocks of sparrows or finches.

This year was made a bit easier, as the largest field, on the south side of Hubbard at Southfield, was not planted this year. Another, at Southfield and Rotunda, was plowed under in fall. Still, we had our work cut out for us. The photo below is the field on the north side of Hubbard at Southfield. I've underlined myself in red! This field had the most birds this year. It took us a long time, but we feel comfortable with our count of over 2400 House Sparrows here. These fields have a lot of benefit to wildlife, but the downside is that they have certainly helped boost the House Sparrow population, which has skyrocketed in the last few years. Our final total of nearly 3500 House Sparrows set a new high record.


Another group of birds that has begun to overwinter in these fields are blackbirds. Last year the Rotunda and Southfield fields had a staggering 1300 Brown-headed Cowbirds. This year the blackbird flock was more modest. Here's about half of them. Most were Red-winged Blackbirds, along with some cowbirds and a single Common Grackle. Raptors have taken advantage of all the small birds in these fields, and once again we have a wintering Merlin here. We had plenty of opportunities to watch it hunt!

If we have time in the afternoon after going through the sunflower fields, Darrin and I hit a few other spots. We had this female American Kestrel dining on a mouse near Miller Road and Wyoming.

It's always nice to have a hot cup of coffee when adding up the numbers back at the EIC on campus. Here I am with Jerry Sadowski (in the Crocs that match the rest of his outfit!), Greg Norwood (in ball cap), and Gary Hutman, all veterans of the Dearborn count. Jerry and Greg are in charge of counting on campus, and Gary covers Rouge Park (in Detroit, but within the larger count circle).
The final story is the continuing saga of the lack of crows since West Nile Virus wiped them out in this area. Up to 2003, it wasn't unusual to count well over 200. That year, we counted 18. Since then, we haven't had more than 8 in any year. Blue Jay numbers, however, have remained pretty constant.

You can view the results of all past Dearborn CBCs on the RRBO web page.