The 22nd Shady Valley / Mountain City Christmas Bird Count was conducted on
January 1,2020.
Four parties tallied 59 species and 2,736 individual birds in and around
Shady Valley and Mountain City. Getting 59 species of birds in the windy
weather we had for the count this year is saying something about the
quality of the participants I'm blessed to have continually help with this
count. The wind was brutal at times and, in at least my area, sometimes
hard to find any bird activity at all at times. Amazingly enough, there
were some high numbers for the historical aspect of the count: American
Black Duck, Rock Pigeon, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Winter
Wren, and Purple finch. There wasn't any new species added this year, but
there were four species that I labeled unusual but have graced the count
before: Bald Eagle(1), Brown Thrasher(1), American Pipit(1), and Red
Crossbills(3). There were a few species that tied the low number of 1 but
only a single species dropped lower than their lowest numbers and that was
Mourning Dove. This count was just below the 21 year average of 60. The
count was cancelled in Count Year 113 (2012/2013) due to snow.
The complete species list :
1. Canada Goose 102
2. American Black Duck 26 [HC]
3. Mallard 138
4. Hooded Merganser 8
5. Wild Turkey 12
6 Great Blue Heron 2
7. Black Vulture 25
8. Turkey Vulture 26
9. Cooper's Hawk 1
10. Bald Eagle 1 [US] -- 2nd time on count
11. Red-shouldered Hawk 1
12. Red-tailed Hawk 11
13. Killdeer 1
14. Rock Pigeon 66 [HC]
15. Mourning Dove 30 [LC]
16. Eastern Screech-Owl 1
17. Belted Kingfisher 5
18. Red-bellied Woodpecker 25 [HC]
19. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5
20. Downy Woodpecker 12
21. Hairy Woodpecker 2
22. Northern Flicker 16
23. Pileated Woodpecker 4
24. American Kestrel 16 [HC]
25. Eastern Phoebe 4
26. Blue Jay 76
27. American Crow 531
28. Common Raven 5
29. Carolina Chickadee 66
30. Tufted Titmouse 26
31. Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
32. White-breasted Nuthatch 12
33. Winter Wren 7 [HC]
34. Carolina Wren 40
35. Golden-crowned Kinglet 10
36. Eastern Bluebird 157
37. Hermit Thrush 2
38. American Robin 150
39. Brown Thrasher 1 [US - 5th time on the count]
40. Northern Mockingbird 17
41 European Starling 526
42. American Pipit 1 [US - 6th time on the count]
43. Cedar Waxwing 66
44. Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
45. Field Sparrow 10
46. Fox Sparrow 3
47. Dark-eyed Junco 46
48. White-crowned Sparrow 5
49. White-throated Sparrow 29
50. Song Sparrow 139
51. Swamp Sparrow 3
52. Eastern Towhee 15
53. Northern Cardinal 62
54. Eastern Meadowlark 5
55. House Finch 60
56. Purple Finch 9 [HC]
57. Red Crossbill 3 [US - 4th time on count]
58. American Goldfinch 98
59. House Sparrow 6
Rob Biller
Shady Valley / Mountain City CBC Compiler
Elizabethton, TN
