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Carefree Christmas Bird Count
 Carefree-Cave Creek, Arizona
December 30, 2002
by Walter Thurber (compiler)

Seventy-three people counted birds this day within an area defined by a 15-mile diameter circle that is centered three miles north of Skyranch Airport.  The count is recognized by the National Audubon Society, along with over 1900 similar counts across the Western Hemisphere and in the Pacific Islands.

Count Results

Pied-billed Grebe                                             1
Great Blue Heron                                            6
Green Heron                                                   2
Canada Goose                                                1
Gadwall                                                 J       1
American Wigeon                                          12
Mallard                                                          61
Ring-necked Duck                                 ñ    252
Lesser Scaup                                                  5
Ruddy Duck                                                    1
Northern Harrier                                             3
Sharp-shinned Hawk                                       2
Cooper’s Hawk                                             10
Harris’s Hawk                                               60
Red-tailed Hawk                                            31
Golden Eagle                                                  3
American Kestrel                                          10
Gambel’s Quail                                          1771
American Coot                                                1
Killdeer                                                 ñ      27
Wilson’s Snipe                                                 1
Rock Dove                                                  103
Mourning Dove                                          1819
Inca Dove                                                     33
Greater Roadrunner                                        5
Western Screech-Owl                                     3
Great Horned Owl                                         12
Anna’s Hummingbird                                     49
Costa’s Hummingbird                                    14
Belted Kingfisher                                             2
Gila Woodpecker                                         277
Red-naped Sapsucker                                     8
Ladder-backed Woodpecker                          31
Northern Flicker1                                          14
Gilded Flicker                                                49
Black Phoebe                                                15
Say’s Phoebe                                                33
Loggerhead Shrike                                        11
Plumbeous Vireo                                             1
Hutton’s Vireo                                                3
Steller’s Jay                                                    2
Western Scrub-Jay                                        61
Common Raven                                          102
Northern Rough-winged Swallow            J       2
Bridled Titmouse                                              8
Juniper Titmouse                                            11
Verdin                                                         133
Bushtit                                                  ñ    118
Red-breasted Nuthatch                                    2
Brown Creeper                                                3
Cactus Wren                                               314
Rock Wren                                                    56
Canyon Wren                                                17
Bewick’s Wren                                              32
House Wren                                                   1
Winter Wren                                                   1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet                                 140
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                                    4
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher                                17
Western Bluebird                                           65
Townsend’s Solitaire                             ñ      66
Hermit Thrush                                               25
Rufous-backed Robin                             J       1
American Robin                                             22
Varied Thrush                                        J       1
Northern Mockingbird                                    40
Bendire’s Thrasher                                           5
Curve-billed Thrasher                                   246
Crissal Thrasher                                               4
European Starling                                         148
Phainopepla                                                 322
Orange-crowned Warbler                                 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler2                                  5
Green-tailed Towhee                                       7
Spotted Towhee                                            75
Canyon Towhee                                            80
Abert’s Towhee                                           104
Rufous-crowned Sparrow                              15
Chipping Sparrow                                            3
Brewer’s Sparrow                                         81
Black-chinned Sparrow                                    1
Vesper Sparrow                                              3
Lark Sparrow                                                  5
Black-throated Sparrow                         ñ    522
Sage Sparrow                                       ñ      49
Lark Bunting                                                   8
Savannah Sparrow                                          1
Fox Sparrow3                                                 3
Song Sparrow                                                 9
Lincoln’s Sparrow                                            7
White-crowned Sparrow                        ñ  1684
Dark-eyed Junco4                                        226
Northern Cardinal                                         143
Red-winged Blackbird                             ñ    109
Western Meadowlark                                      34
Yellow-headed Blackbird                          J     70
Great-tailed Grackle                                        82
Brown-headed Cowbird                           ñ       4
Cassin’s Finch                                                   1
House Finch                                           ñ    776
Lesser Goldfinch                                             61
Lawrence’s Goldfinch                             ñ      26
House Sparrow                                            564
[Unidentified]                                                 29 

Total Individuals                                   11501 

Total Species                                            103

J   New species to count                      ñ   Record high total

1Northern (Red-shafted) Flicker - 12 & Northern Flicker (form unknown) - 2.

2Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler - 5.

3Fox (Slate-colored) Sparrow - 3.

4Dark-eyed (Gray-headed) Junco - 1, Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco - 157, Dark-eyed (Pink-sided) Junco - 23, Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco - 2 & Dark-eyed Junco (form unknown) - 43.

Observers  (area leaders in bold) 

Eldon Archer, Donald Baer, Roy Barnes, Harvey Beatty, Diane Berney, Ray Berney, Charles Breed, Rich Breisch, Susan Breisch, Karla Burnley, Walter Camp, Tillie Chew, Greg Clark, Pat Colclasure, Troy Corman, John Crane, Karen Crane, Tara Deck, Bix Demaree, Cynthia Donald, Marjorie Eckman, Jack Follett, Jay Follett, Spencer Follett, Thomas Gaskill, John Gunn, Paul Hershberger, Thom Hulen, Robert Hurni, Betty Kellers, Marjorie Latta, Melanie Lawrence-Skane, Carol Ledford, Vic Lewis, Ken Linker, Molly McCartney, Peg McKernan, Barbara Meding, Charles Oldham, Eleanor Radke, Jean Rigden, Thomas Ropp, Pat Scott, Norm Shrout, Bart Sotnick, Carol Sotnick, Emerson Stiles, Beverly Tall, Wayne Tall, Andrew Thurber, Walter Thurber, Anita Van Auken, Tom Virum, Greg Watts, John Weser, Russell Widner, Cathy Wise-Gervais & Daniela Yellan in the field. 

Doug Alexander, Peggy Alexander, John Ausman, Ken Beckner, Raedean Beckner, Nan Byrne, Frank Casanova, Thelma Casanova, Lloyd Doerr, Cindy Foster, Mary Hanley, Nancy Laizure, Marguerite Lanham, Jim Skane & Joey Wilson at feeders. 

Summary 

Clear weather with light winds prevailed as we conducted our eleventh annual bird count. Luckily the storm clouds that dumped nearly one-half inch of rain on Carefree during the predawn hours exited promptly, setting the stage for a day that would yield above average numbers for both species and individual birds. 

We observed 103 species this year, two ahead of last year and three above our average for the past five years. Gadwall, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Rufous-backed Robin, Varied Thrush and Yellow-headed Blackbird were listed for the first time, bringing our cumulative total to 148 species. Most of these new birds occurred along Cave Creek between Seven Springs and the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. Three species were found for just the second time: Canada Goose, Plumbeous Vireo and Lawrence’s Goldfinch. No additional species were discovered during the count week. 

Several regulars failed to appear. The following species were recorded at least three times over the past five years but were missed this year: White-throated Swift, Horned Lark, White-breasted Nuthatch, Marsh Wren, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Painted Redstart, Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch. We know that Barn Owls and Peach-faced Lovebirds are present in the area but they could not be located when it counted most. 

Some 11,501 individual birds were noted, down 11 percent from last year’s record total. This decline can be attributed in part to reduced coverage (fewer party-hours in the field) and worsening drought conditions. The most abundant species in the count area was Mourning Dove, followed by Gambel’s Quail, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, House Sparrow and Black-throated Sparrow. We established record high totals for Ring-necked Duck, Black-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and eight other species. On the minus side doves were down a combined 39 percent and we managed to dig out only seven warblers. 

I have been following precipitation patterns in the count area and beyond in an attempt to understand why our individual bird totals fluctuate as they do. The Maricopa County Flood Control District maintains monitoring stations at the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, Desert Mountain and the Cave Creek Landfill. Rainfall at these stations averaged just 3.06 inches in calendar year 2002, making this the driest of the past five years in the count area. Additionally this has been the driest year on record in many parts of Arizona and the West. 

After the count we got together for dinner and a preliminary compilation at the Satisfied Frog Restaurant in Cave Creek. People seem to enjoy the place and, unlike last year, I had no reports of any valuable ornithological data disappearing between the floorboards! 

Remember that all bird count results dating back to Christmas Day 1900 can be found on the National Audubon Society interactive website at www.audubon.org/bird/cbc. You can view raw count data, construct graphs of species trends over time or make maps of bird distribution. I delved into the records for last year and discovered that Carefree had the national high count for Cactus Wren and Curve-billed Thrasher. Both species increased in numbers this year so perhaps we will remain in first place. 

Please feel free to contact me during the year if you spot something unusual. Lovebird reports are important too since Troy Corman and Greg Clark are monitoring the expansion of this exotic species in the Greater Phoenix area. You can call me at 480-483-6450 or use my e-mail address: wathurber@cox.net.  

I want to express my thanks to everyone who contributed to the count in some way . . . area leaders, field observers, feeder watchers, public agency personnel, private property owners and others. Nine volunteers from other states augmented our ranks and we were grateful for them. Hopefully all of you who participated in the count had an enjoyable day and will rejoin us next year.


  

 



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