Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2009 (Vol. 5) TN Birders: In this 5th edition of Tennessee Birders by the Numbers (has it really been five years?), and for the first time, I include all the listing categories used by the ABA (with the exception of several categories with no TN birders). For those new to the report the data involve are for the previous year, in this case 2009 (ending with December 31, 2009), and any increases in 2010 are not included. Of course that means that even if you had a great spring migration in 2010 and perhaps included your totals on www.surfbirds.com they will not be in this report. Why the ABA takes so long to produce the Big Day and List Report is somewhat mysterious to me. Hopefully a quicker turnaround may be possible in the future. As noted every year, TN birders excell in many relevant statistics related to the sport of birding and in one listing game in particular (one that is my main interest) we are leaders. So we begin with Total Ticks. I. Total Ticks: Sates/Provinces by Total Ticks Birders The ABA's Total Ticks list is where you record the total species seen in states (but not Hawaii), Canadian provinces, DC & the French islands of St. Pierre & Miquelon (located just south of the Island of Newfoundland), with a threshold (requirement) of at least 4,000 total birds in these areas, i.e., you need to have identified 4,000 birds to be on the list. Last year we came in second following Michigan with 9 total ticking birders. This year (below) we came in tied for third/fourth with eight birders. 1. Michigan (10 birders) 2. Texas (9) 4. -t TENNESSEE (8) 4. -t Washington (8) 7. -t California (7) 7. -t Massachusetts (7) 7. -t New York (7) 8. Virginia (6) 10. -t Indiana (5) 10. -t New Jersey (5) 14. -t Colorado (4) 14. -t Illinois (4) 14. -t Maryland (4) 14. -t Rhode Island (4) 19. -t Florida (3) 19. -t Minnesota (3) 19. -t Ontario (3) 19. -t Oregon (3) 19. -t Pennsylvania (3) Not only does the Michigan contingent lead on this list, but six MI total tickers are in the top 20 on the Total Ticks list. The TN total tickers for 2009 are: David Chaffin (rank of 7 with 11,060 birds), Rick Waldrop, 8,568 (21), Robert Odear, 8,472 (22), Kevin Breault, 8,199 (24), John Henderson, 6,626 (51), David Jacobson, 6,520 (53), John Moyle, 5,684 (77), Bill Pulliam, 4,583 (105). II. States/Provinces by ABA Area Birders The major ABA list, the "ABA Area" includes all the states (but again not HI), Canadian Provinces, St. Pierre & Miquelon and adjacent waters, with a threshold of 500 species. Like last year this list does not control for population size or other variables. In 2008 we were 11th with 22 birders. 1. California (69 birders) 2. Texas (63) 3. Florida (50) 4. Michigan (42) 5. Washington (37) 6. Massachusetts (36) 7. Maryland (29) 9.-t Arizona (28) 9.-t Colorado (28) 12.-t New Jersey (23) 12.-t New York (23) 12.-t Ohio (23) 15.-t North Carolina (22) 15.-t Pennsylvania (22) 15.-t TENNESSEE (22) 16. Oregon (21) 18.-t Illinois (18) 18.-t Virginia (18) Our 22 high ranking TN birders for 2009 are: David Chaffin (806 species with a rank of 24 among all ABA birders), Robert Odear (779), John Henderson (756), Daniel Jacobson (754), Tommie Rogers (741), Kevin Calhoon (739), Rick Waldrop (735), Clyde Blum (731), Kin Cosner (717), Rick Knight (708), Kathy Jacobson (704), Carol Fegarido (696), Steve Clendenen (685), Gail Clendened (685), Terry Witt (662), Jeff Wilson (651), Kevin Breault (634), Michael Todd (615), John Moyle (614), Bill Pulliam (608), Francis Fekel (606), and congratulations to Gail King for entering the list at 514! Congratulations also to Carol Fegarido who reached 700 on January 20, 2010. III. TN Birders on State/Province Lists Other than Tennessee Many TN birders are on the lists for other states/provinces. Last year 26 birders were listed on other states/provinces with a total of 36 states and provinces. In 2009, 20 birders are included with a total of 35 states and provinces. Note that each state or Canadian province has a requirement of 50% species identified. In 2008 and 2009, the TN requirement for listing was 204, i.e., in order to record your TN total with the ABA you must have identified 204 species in TN. The following table provides TN birders by the number of states/provinces at the 50% threshold, and the specific states/provinces ranked first among TN birders. Thus, as in 2008 David Chaffin is first on the list with 50% or more species in 24 states/provinces, and in seven states/provinces is first among all TN birders. Note that the number of states/provinces on this list does not include TN--all those on the list are also on the TN list and have reached the TN threshold. Birders who added states/provinces this year were David Chaffin, Rick Waldrop, Carol Fegarido and Kevin Breault each with one additional state. 1. David Chaffin (24 states/provinces), AK, KY, ME, MI, OK, PA, WV (first among TN birders) 2. Robert Odear (20), CO, DE, OR, MB 3. Rick Waldrop (19), MN, ND, VA 4. Kevin Calhoon (12), OH, SC 5. Tommie Rogers (11), FL, IA KS, MO, NE 7.-t John Henderson (8) 7.-t Daniel Jacobson (8), GA 9.-t Clyde Blum (6) 9.-t Carol Fegarido (6), CA 11.-t Kevin Breault (5), IL, VT 11.-t Jeff Wilson (5), AL, AR, MS 13.-t John Moyle (4), CT, NY 13.-t Bill Pulliam (4) 17.-t Gail Clendenen (3) 17.-t Steve Clendenen (3), AZ 17.-t Francis Fekel (3), NJ 17.-t Rick Knight (3), LA, NC, TX 19.-t Kathy Jacobson (2) 19.-t Thomas McNeil (2) 20. Gail King (1) IV. Canada The only TN birder on the Canada list was the late Robert Odear with 376 birds at a rank of 57. Much has been said of Bob's passing in April of 2010 and I won't belabor the point here. Most birders know that Bob founded ObServe Bird Tours, that he often went on trips to Manitoba and especially Churchill, and that he developed the North American Rare Bird Alert (NARBA). We also learned from another listserve that beyond birding Bob had a MBA from Harvard University and held senior executive positions at several large companies. In addition, he was an expert on NASCAR and was revising a book on that sport just before he died. Very sad loss to be sure. V. Lower Forty-Eight As indicated this list includes all the states with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. The list is highly correlated with the ABA Area list. Our top leaders for 2009 are David Chaffin at 736, Tommie Roger at 718 and Kevin Calhoon at 711 with ranks of 32, 46 and 58 respectively. VI. United States Our 2009 TN birders on this list are David Chaffin at 820, John Henderson (791), Daniel Jacobson (785), Clyde Blum (769), Kevin Calhoon (762), Tommie Rogers (741), Robert Odear (734), Kathy Jacobson (729), Rick Waldrop (726), Kin Cosner (717), Carol Fegarido (708), Steve and Gail Clendenen (685), Terry Witt (682), Michael Todd (655), Jeff Wilson and Frances Fekel (651), Kevin Breault (634), John Moyle (633), Bill Pulliam (608), Gail King (524). VII. AOU Area As noted previously, established in 1883, the AOU is the American Ornithologist Union, the major professional association for ornithologists. The AOU Area is that covered by the most recent AOU checklist of North American birds, and includes North and Central America and island groups such as Hawaii. TN birders on this list are Rick Waldrop with 1,655 birds and a strong rank of 7 among all birders, David Chaffin with 1,323 (rank 47), John Henderson, 1,184 (87), Robert Odear, 1,181 (91), Daniel Jacobson, 1,169 (99), Kin Cosner, 1,122 (113), Clyde Blum, 1,033 (153), and Gail King, 842 (225). VIII. Mexico This year our TN birders on the Mexico list are Jeff Wilson, 686 (28), Robert Odear, 674 (29) and Daniel Jacobson, 664 (32), Clyde Blum, 586 (57), Gail King, 557 (73), Rick Waldrop, 534 (81), Kevin Calhoon, 483 (105), John Henderson, 481 (107), David Chaffin, 477 (109). IX. Central America The TN birders on the Central America list are Rick Waldrop, 884 at a rank of 6, and Terry Witt, 617 (55). X. West Indies/Caribbean The two TN birders on this 2009 list are Robert Odear, 302 (21), and Rick Waldrop, 277 (34). XI. Europe & Western Palearctic Big opportunity on this list with no TN birders. XII. Asia On this list our TN birders are Terry Witt, 1,448 (29), David Chaffin, 787 (76), and Rick Waldrop, 712 (84). XIII. World The World list is my favorite, one I hope to rank highly on in the next life (my only chance!), and includes these TN birders for 2009: Terry Witt, 6,215 (42), Rick Waldrop, 4,502 (109), David Chaffin, 2,755 (229), Kin Cosner, 2,078 (292), Kevin Calhoon, 1,993 (302), Robert Odear, 1,767 (326), John Moyle, 1,758 (329), Jeff Wilson, 1,669 (345), Clyde Blum, 1,412 (379), and Michael Todd, 1,407 (380). XIV. North America Rick Waldrop has 1,655 on this list and a very impressive rank of 3. The others are: Terry Witt, 1,314 (53), and Jeff Wilson, 1,294 (61), David Chaffin, 1,274 (69), Robert Odear, 1,171 (117), Daniel Jacobson, 1,169 (119), Kevin Calhoon, 1,162 (123), John Henderson, 1,149 (133), Tommie Rogers, 1,135 (143), Kin Coser, 1,122 (148), Clyde Blum, 994 (226), Gail King, 832 (306). XV. South America The TN birders on this list are Terry Witt, 2,073 (33) and Rick Waldrop, 2,042 (34). XVI. Africa Terry Witt, 1,411 (30) and Rick Waldrop, 710 (132) are on this list. XVII. Eurasia Here the TN birders are: Terry Witt, 1,541 (31), David Chaffin, 931 (68), and Rick Waldrop, 928 (69). XVIII. Pacific Ocean Our sole TN birder on this list is Francis Fekel, 160 (86). XIX. Millennium List On this list you record the number of species identified in the ABA Area beginning January 1, 2001. If I ever get to the West in this century... Our TN birders are: Clyde Blum, 705 (11), Carol Fegarido, 683 (22), David Chaffin, 653 (36), Tommie Rogers, 651 (40), Steve Clendenen, 635 (47), Gail Clendenen, 635 (47), Daniel Jacobson, 626 (56), and John Henderson, 603 (68). XX. Photographed-ABA Area Our ABA Area photographers are: Jeff Wilson, 581 (24), Clyde Blum, 550 (32), and Michael Todd, 527 (38). XXI. World Families Our TN birders here are: Rick Waldrop, 162 (108), David Chaffin, 111 (159), and John Henderson, 103 (165). XXII. All Territories & Provinces This list, similar to the Total Ticks list, involves combining all the provinces/territories in Canada. Robert Odear was the only TN birder on the list with 1,098 birds and a rank of 32. XXIII. Canadian Provinces As noted elsewhere Robert Odear was the only TN birder to be on any of the lists for Canadian provinces/territories. In 2009 he had 247 birds with a rank of 12 for Manitoba. XXIX. Annual Lists Tommie Rogers, 412 (36), Carol Fegarido, 404 (38), and David Chaffin, 400 (42) were on the ABA Area annual list. Tommie Rogers and Carol Fegarido were also on the annual lists for the Lower 48 and United States at the same levels just indicated above. John Henderson, 216 (2), and David Chaffin, 215 (3) were on the annual list for Alabama as well as the Georgia list, 200 (7) and 196 (8), respectively. On the TN annual list, Jeff Wilson, 278 (1), and Michael Todd, 273 (2) were at the top for the third year in a row, followed by Daniel Jacobson, 247 (3), Bill Pulliam, 239 (4), David Chaffin, 233 (5), John Henderson, 227 (6), Tommie Rogers, 218 (7), Terry Witt, 217 (8), and Carol Fegarido, 191 (9). XXX. Miscellaneous A. Total Ticks for 2009 The ABA does not record annual total ticks but it can be easily computed. These are the results for 2009. Total ticks are in parentheses. Note that in order to be included on this list you must have had a published total ticks results for 2008. In addition to the TN birders on the 2009 list, John Henderson, David Chaffin and Robert Odear have all been in the top ten for previous years. 1. Elaine Snively (OH) 1,009 (5,314)--putting Snively at the 20th position on the all-time list. 2. Dwight Cargill (VT) 952 (8,123) 3. Kathleen Anderson (MA) 804 (5,087) 4. Jeffrey Sanders (IL) 737 (10,911) 5. Kevin Rolle (AZ) 665 (6,471) 6. Bert Frenz (TX) 663 (5,865) 7. KEVIN BREAULT (TN) 542 (8,199) 8. Nancy LaFramboise (WA) 506 (7,104) 9. Bill LaFramboise (WA) 455 (7,430) 10. Kent Davis (VA) 419 (7,621) 11. RICK WALDROP (TN) 412 (8,568) 12. Mary L. Gambill (TX) 350 (6,000) 13. Charles Gambill (TX) 350 (6,000) 14. Brooke Clibbon (AB) 340 (6,639) 15. Robert Holbrook (OK) 337 (6,649) 16. Eric Tull (AB) 313 (7,915) 17. Charles Mills (IN) 308 (5,018) 18. Mary McDavit (NC) 292 (6,873) 19. David Narins (FL) 291 (8,086) 20. Albert Filemyr (PA) 219 (7,705) B. Total Ticks in the Last Five Years (2005-09) This too is not an ABA list but it can be calculated. In order to be included on the list you must have had a published total ticks record for 2005. 1. KEVIN BREAULT (TN) 2,489 2. J. Pat Valentik (AR) 2,480 3. Bill LaFramboise (WA) 2,141 4. Joyce Bathke (VA) 2,099 5. Nancy LaFramboise (WA) 1,903 6. Kent Davis (VA) 1,865 7. Dwight Cargill (VT) 1,850 8. Mary McDavit (NC) 1,721 9. Albert Filemyr (PA) 1,460 10. Steven Matherly (TX) 1,426 11. David Narins (FL) 1,317 12. RICK WALDROP (TN) 1,313 13. Eric Tull (AB) 1,245 14. Jennifer Rycenga (CA) 1,226 15. Allen Richard (MA) 1,161 16. Bernard Morris (PA) 1,129 17. Kevin Rolle (AZ) 1,106 18. M.K. Wade (MO) 1,087 19. Stephen Dinsmore (IA) 1,051 20. Bert Frenz (TX) 1,014 C. Percentage of State/Province Bird Lists by Top Big Day Results, 2009 I refered to some of these results on my spring 2010 trip report. The question I wondered about was what states and provinces are the best with regard to reaching the 50% threshold on a short (3-5 day) trip. This list may help to approximate a reasonable answer. Percentages were determined by dividing the top Big Day result into the bird list for the state or province. For example, the top Big Day list is 214 for Manitoba and there are 394 birds on the Manitoba list: 212/394 = 54.3%. Note that complete data were available only for 62 states/provinces. As I mentioned in my recent trip report the high rankings for Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan makes visiting this part of Canada a must for total tickers. 1. Manitoba 54.3% 2. Wisconsin 53.1 3. Missouri 50.1 4. Alberta 49.8 5. New Jersey 49.5 6. Delaware 49.1 7. Saskatchewan 49.0 8. Ohio 48.5 9. Iowa 48.2 10. Kentucky 48.1 11. Kansas 47.6 12. Maryland 47.4 13. Vermont 47.7 14. Michigan 46.9 15. Minnesota 46.6 16. Indiana 46.4 17. Alabama 46.0 18. Georgia 45.5 19. Louisiana 45.4 20. Utah 45.1 21. Nebraska 45.0 22. Montana 44.4 23. Idaho 43.88 24. Connecticut 43.87 25. Newfoundland 43.2 26. New York 43.0 27. New Hampshire 42.7 28. Tennessee 42.6 29. Oregon 42.2 30. Pennsylvania 42.18 31. Mississippi 42.17 32. South Carolina 42.11 33. Wyoming 42.0 34. North Dakota 41.96 35. Illinois 41.91 36. Colorado 41.71 37. Arkansas 41.69 38. Ontario 41.4 39. Texas 41.2 40. Maine 41.0 41. West Virginia 40.9 42. South Dakota 40.5 43. Washington D.C. 40.48 44. Washington 40.44 45. Prince Edward Island 39.8 46. North Carolina 39.4 47. British Columbia 38.9 48. Oklahoma 38.3 49. Virginia 38.28 50. New Mexico 38.2 51. Quebec 38.1 52. Massachusetts 37.8 53. Rhode Island 37.3 54. Arizona 36.8 55. California 36.0 56. Florida 35.5 57. Nevada 33.5 58. New Brunswick 33.3 59. Nova Scotia 31.0 60. Yukon Territory 26.7 61. Alaska 23.5 62. Northwest Territory 19.9 D. Percentage Growth in State/Province Bird Lists, 1992-2006 Table C (above) suggests that among other things your chances of getting to the 50% state/province threshold on a short trip is negatively related to the number of vagrants that have been seen over the years. Thus, it would perhaps be interesting to look at the growth of state and province bird lists. For this table I divided the number of additional birds during the period by the 1992 totals. For example, the TN bird list in 1992 had 369 birds while in 2009 we have 408, a difference of 39. 39/369 = 10.57%. Note that my starting point on this list was arbitrary as 1992 was the oldest List Report I could find. The parentheses indicate the absolute number of additional birds in the 18 years. To me, the table is a kind of measure of how much we have learned over these 18 years about the distribution of birds in states/provinces. Clearly, birders know much more about the Yukon Territory now than in 1992. Also note that the data for Newfoundland seem to be incorrect so I have taken that province out. 1. Yukon Territory 20.4% (52) 2. Alaska 17.9 (77) 3. Idaho 17.5 (62) 4. Saskatchewan 17.0 (60) 5. Washington 16.4 (70) 6. Prince Edward Island 16.1 (49) 7. West Virginia 15.5 (48) 8. Utah 14.6 (57) 9. Virginia 14.3 (58) 10. New Mexico 14.0 (65) 11. North Carolina 13.9 (57) 12. Kentucky 13.4 (46) 13. Quebec 13.3 (54) 14. Oregon 12.1 (56) 15. Alabama 12.0 (47) 16. Montana 11.3 (44) 17. British Columbia 10.8 (49) 18. Connecticut 10.7 (41) 19. Tennessee 10.6 (39) 20. Nevada 10.5 (46) 21. Maryland 10.4 (41) 23.-t Colorado 10.38 (46) 23.-t Nova Scotia 10.38 (44) 24. California 10.3 (60) 25. Iowa 10.16 (39) 26. New Brunswick 10.11 (38) 27. Kansas 10.0 (43) 28. Vermont 9.9 (34) 29. Alberta 9.8 (37) 30. New Jersey 9.7 (41) 31. Wisconsin 9.62 (38) 32. Georgia 9.56 (37) 33. South Dakota 9.4 (37) 34. Nebraska 9.2 (38) 35. Louisiana 9.0 (39) 36. Mississippi 8.9 (34) 37. Wyoming 8.88 (35) 38. Michigan 8.8 (35) 39. New Hampshire 8.7 (32) 40. North Dakota 8.5 (31) 41. South Carolina 8.4 (33) 42. Maine 8.0 (32) 43. Illinois 7.6 (31) 44. Rhode Island 7.58 (30) 45. Ontario 7.57 (34) 47.-t Arkansas 7.5 (28) 47.-t D.C. 7.5 (23) 48. Minnesota 7.4 (30) 49. Northwest Territory 7.36 (22) 50. New York 7.3 (32) 51. Ohio 7.1 (28) 52.Texas 6.95 (41) 53. Indiana 6.94 (27) 54. Delaware 6.86 (26) 55. Massachusetts 6.8 (31) 56. Arizona 6.51 (33) 57. Oklahoma 6.5 (29) 58. Manitoba 6.2 (23) 59. Florida 5.7 (27) 60. Missouri 5.1 (20) 61. Pennsylvania 5.0 (20) E. Looking Back 18 Years to 1992! Now that I have my 1992 List Report handy I thought it might be interesting to look back over these 18 years of TN birding. In 1992, our own Benton Basham (now in TX) was number 1 on the ABA Area list (he is now 2nd), and Robert Odear was the second highest ranking Tennessean at rank 39. Other TN birders on the ABA Area list were: Dollyann Myers, 722 (70), David Hill, 702 (158), Linda Northrup, 682 (251), Richard Preston, 680 (261), Linda Armstrong, 660 (374), Daniel Jacobson, 659 (381), Kin Cosner, 652 (418), Terry Witt, 642 (480), Fred Alsop, 637 (519), John Henderson, 634 (530), Holly Overton, 628 (573), Jerry Drewry, 617 (665), Rick Knight, 606 (762), and nine other TN birders with more than 500 birds. While Phoebe Snetsinger was leading the World list with 7,212 in 1992, our own Holly Overton was leading all TN birders at 4,464 with a rank of 40. Lee Johnson was third in TN with 1,875 (276), Terry Witt, 1,670 (306), Dollyann Myers, 1,567 (334), Richard Preston, 1,365 (391), and Jeff Wilson, 1,344 (398). In 1992, the Tennessee list was led by a guy named Jeff Wilson with 334 birds (at the time Jeff was also 9 and 10 on the MS and AR lists, respectively--he is now 4 and 5 on these lists). Others on the list were Jerry Drewry, 325 (2), Daniel Jacobson, 324 (3), Dollyann Myers, 314 (4), John Henderson, 310 (5), Kathy Jacobson, 307 (6), Tony Koella, 306 (7), Fred Alsop, 303 (8), David Chaffin, 301 (9), and Johnny Park, Paul Harris and Stephen Satterfield at 300 birds with an additional 18 birders on the list. Others on the 1992 List Report were Robert Odear with 247 birds and a rank of 16 on the Manitoba list, and Linda Northrup, 504 (35), David Hill, 451 (62), and David Chaffin, 422 (84) on the Annual ABA Area list. Finally, in 1992 Terry Witt and David McCarroll reported two Tennessee Big Days, April 29 and June 5, with 124 and 131 birds, respectively. From their "comments" section: "Having set the April TN Big Day, Terry and David decided to establish the June record as well. They were hampered, however, by strong winds all day. Terry and David also win the 'most sheets of computer paper used to print the Big Day list' award." 1992 indeed! I believe the all-time record for June is still held by Terry and David. That's it for 2009. Great birding wishes for the rest of 2010! Again, I apologize in advance for any errors as lots of numbers and calculations are involved. If I've made a mistake let me know and I'll make the change next year. If you have substantive suggestions let me know and I'll try to include them in the next report. Be good to birds, birders of all stripes and life itself. Remember, you can't list your ABA totals unless you are a member of the American Birding Association (www.americanbirding.org). The Individual and Joint membership ($45, $52), in which you get a subscription to Birding, Winging It, and the ABA Big Day and List Report, is a very small amount compared to that TN birders spend on books, optics, travel, and trips, but a great investment to TN birding and the general birding community. Note that one of these days (probably before the fall semester) I hope to have this report on my university webpage, www.mtsu.edu/~kbreault. Good birding and good totaling! Kevin Breault Brentwood, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation. You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds you report were seen. 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