Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2020 (Vol. 16)
Welcome to the Tennessee Birders by the Numbers (TBN) report for 2020. This
report like those of the last few years will include data since Vol. 15 up to
the present time (thus totals from the beginning of 2020). Unfortunately, this
is a quite abbreviated volume given the Covid-19 pandemic. 2020 was such an
unusual year for many reasons. In birding, Covid kept many birders including
myself close to home, something essential for people of all ages, and
ironically so for those who felt entirely healthy. The failure of the
government to regularly inform people that a significant proportion of us
carried the virus and were asymptomatic (now thought to be about 60% of cases),
and that using masks, frequent hand washing, and social distancing were
required, caused millions of people to become seriously ill and die.
And it is important to understanding that this pandemic could have been much
worse. Currently, less than 2% of diagnosed cases in the U.S. end up in death
(since people have died at home without a diagnosis the actual percentage is
unknown at this time, but at least 10-20% increase is likely), a relatively
small amount by historical standards and what many epidemiologists think might
well happen in the future. Reading even the popular literature (e.g., David
Quammen's 2012 "Spillover") will convince you that as bad as it has been (and
we will likely end up north of 600,000 dead--the 1918 flu pandemic killed
675K), it could have been much worse. I wonder what would have happened if we
had been in a much more difficult pandemic, when say 10% or more were dying and
morbidity was significantly higher. Clearly, we need to be prepared for not
only what is expected but for what might reasonably happen. "Just-in-time"
(JIT) management works well for ordinary times and ordinary goods, but fails
with major disruptions like pandemics--essential goods and practices must be
exempt from JIT.
Fortunately, the country and many states had a great year for rare birds. As
noted by Nate Swick and others, birds like Northern Jacana, Eared Quetzal,
Common Cuckoo, Red-backed Shrike, Variegated Flycatcher, Cuban Pewee and
Red-legged Thrush made ABA news. In Tennessee among others, Brown Booby,
Neotropical Cormorant, Black Scoter, Sabine's Gull, Cassin's Flycatcher,
Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Clay-collared Sparrow, Nelson's Sparrow, Common
Redpoll, and recently in January of 2021, White-throated Swift and Bullock's
Oriole made local news. Evening Grosbeaks seem to be everywhere in the region
(I had two flyovers at my property), I am told the best for those birds in
20-25 years. For birders chancing to travel a bit, the unusually cooperative
Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Arkansas was a welcome sight. Snowy Owls have already
come to TN, and at least MO and NC have had them too. Look for Red Crossbills,
White-winged Crossbills, and the best of all the winter finches, Pine
Grosbeak--not likely but you never know given the kind of year we have had.
Hopefully, TN birders also saw the ABA report, "ABA Area Introduced Species"
(still on the website I believe), that discusses birds that, depending on the
area, can be listed. Note the dates for counting and the rules of the Recording
Standards and Ethics Committee. None of these birds involved Tennessee but
those who bird beyond our borders will note the large number of birds that are
listable in Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas among other states.
This abbreviated TBN report will include only the TN List, TN Birders on
State/Province Lists, and the All Time Total Ticks list:
I. TN List (top 54)
As in previous years, I have combined the ebird list with the ABA list. Since
some birders use ebird exclusively, and some use the ABA, the following list is
as good as can be produced currently. When there were differences between the
two, the highest totals were used. TN birders should continue to make changes
to make sure both lists are consistent. And let me know if there are any
mistakes on either the ABA or ebird lists. Note that we now have 54 birders
with 300 TN birds, up from 42 last year--a huge increase for this quite unusual
year. Finally, as can be seen Michael Todd and Mark Greene are very close to
Jeff Wilson's record of 388 TN birds. Might 2021 be the year that important
record is eclipsed?
1. 388 Jeff Wilson2. 386 Michael Todd3. 385 Mark Greene4. 369 Daniel Jacobson5.
368 Ruben Stoll6. 365 Tommie Rogers7. 363 Dollyann Myers9-t. 361 Kevin
Calhoon9-t. 361 Victor Stoll10. 360 Clyde Blum11. 358 Ron Hoff
12. 357 Terry Witt13. 356 David Chaffin14. 350 Christopher Sloan15. 349 Alan
Troyer16. 347 Francis Fekel17. 346 Beth Schilling19-t. 344 Gail Clendenen19-t.
344 Steve Clendenen20. 341 Rick Knight 21. 339 Phillip Casteel22. 337 Chris
Agee23. 336 Morton Massey25-t. 335 David Kirschke25-t. 335 Rick Waldrop26. 334
Graham Gerdeman27. 332 Ken Oeser28. 331 Damien Simbeck29. 329 Thomas McNeil30.
326 John O'Barr31. 324 Rick Shipkowski32. 323 Kevin Breault34-t. 322 Richard
Preston34-t. 322 Jeffrey Schaarschmidt35. 321 James Brooks36. 320 Stephen
Zipperer38-t. 319 Michael Smith38-t. 319 Daniel Redwine41-t. 318 Rick
Houlk41-t. 318 Cyndi Routledge41-t. 318 Steve Routledge42. 317 Susan
McWhirter43. 315 Scott Somershoe44. 313 Joseph Hall45. 311 Andrew Lydeard46.
310 Bill Keeler47. 307 David Trently48. 305 Chuck Estes50-t. 303 Gail King50-t.
303 Joshua Stevenson52-t. 302 Tommy Edwards52-t. 302 Rack Cross53. 301 Bruce
Dralle54. 300 Stanley York Jr.
II. TN Birders on State/Province Lists
Many TN birders are on the lists for other states and provinces and with the
removal of the ABA thresholds for listing we get a better picture of TN birders
beyond TN. The following list includes TN birders (and those strongly
associated with TN birding, e.g. Scott Somershoe, Damien Simbeck) by the number
of states/provinces in which they reported lists. Also included are the
state/province abbreviations for those TN birders who are first among TN
birders on these lists. And the state/province abbreviations that are in
parentheses are ones where the birder has achieved 50% of the state/province.
Thus, for example, David Chaffin has reported lists in 62 states/provinces, and
is the leading birder in 11 states/provinces, and in 9 of these has received at
least 50%. This year I was able to include ebird birders who are among the top
100 ebirders in states/provinces. Finally, this year the top TN birder in each
state/province is indicated by the number of birds identified in the
state/province (thus, SM-77 means that I have identified 77 birds in St. Pierre
& Miquelon (SM). This should give TN birders more incentive to get out and bird
beyond TN. For example, the lowest bird total for a TN birder who is first in a
state/province beyond Tennessee is 46 in the Yukon Territory, Canada (YT).
Surely, that amount can be topped! Note, ebirders should let me know if there
is a way to report on listing beyond the ebird threshold of the top 100.
Finally, TN birders have achieved the majority of birds in 36 different states
and provinces!
1-t. Kevin Breault (62 states/provinces), CT-188, DC-125, DE-224, ID-173,
(IL-282), MA-218, (MD-224), NH-192, NV-196, NY-212, OR-215, RI-164, UT-221,
(VA-t-268), (VT-192), WI-178, WY-162, BC-187, (MB-199), NL-132, NS-171, ON-182,
PE-124, PQ-179, SK-202, SM-771-t. David Chaffin (62), (AK-298), (CA-385),
(IN-235), (KY-293), (ME-276), (MI-249), (OK-254), (SD-234), (WV-183), NB-183,
YT-463-t. Ron Hoff (60), AB-1103-t. Dollyann Myers (60), HI-735. Rick Waldrop
(59), (GA-329), (MN-223), (ND-217), (VA-t-268)6. Ken Oeser (54)7. Gail and
Steve Clendenen (51), (AZ-416 for Gail)8. Scott Somershoe (45), (CO-386),
MT-2189. Mike O'Malley (44)10. David Trently (40), (PA-248)11. Gail King
(38)12-t. Tommie Rogers (31), (FL-392), (IA-237), (KS-254), (MO-326), (NE-250),
WA-208 12-t. Michael Todd (31)14. Kevin Calhoon (29), (NM-300), (OH-231),
(SC-316)15. Francis Fekel (26), (NJ-275)16. Thomas McNeil (25)17. Rick
Shipkowski (23)18. Joshua Stevenson (20)19-t. John O'Barr (19)19-t. Stephen
Zipperer (19)21. Rick Houlk (18)22. Clyde Blum (8)23-t. Morton Massey (7)23-t.
Darrel Wilder (7)25. Jeff Wilson (6), (AR-336), (MS-355), (TN-388)26-t. Mark
Greene (5)26-t. Rick Knight (5), (LA-325), (NC-397), (TX-463)28-t. Rack Cross
(3)28-t. Daniel Redwine (3)28-t. Damien Simbeck (3), (AL-361)31-t. Richard
Preston (2)31-t. Bill Pulliam (2)31-t. Christopher Sloan (2)31-t. Michael Smith
(2)
III. All Time Total Ticks (top 25, with last reporting date)
As many of you know, the total ticks game is where you add up the number of
bird species you have identified in all the states and provinces. So, if you
saw a Snowy Owl in Tennessee and you also saw one in NC that would be a total
of two ticks. The ABA allows birders to list their life total ticks and annual
total ticks. Because the ABA does not include birders who are no longer active,
the All Time Total Ticks list below includes all those who have ever played the
game. I include this list in this abbreviated TBN not because the All Time
Total Ticks list is of great importance in some way, rather it is just my
favorite game. Of course, all of these birding games are just that, hobbies to
be enjoyed and ones that are personally meaningful to those who play them, but
clearly not the stuff of great import. As noted, David Chaffin and I are the
only TN birds in the top 25, but I wanted to indicate those TN birders who have
reached the 5,000 level: Dollyann Myers with 8,777; Rick Waldrop 8,520; Ron
Hoff 8,005; Ken Oeser 7,639; Gail Clendenen 5,242; Steve Clendenen 5,240; David
Trently 5,202; and Scott Somershoe 5,155.
1. 18,271 Paul Lehman, 20142. 15760 Deuane Hoffman, 20073. 15,594 Kenneth Ward,
20114. 14,849 Mike Resch, 20215. 13,599 Thomas Heatley, 20196. 12,990 Jon Dunn,
20067. 12,956 Kevin Breault, 20218. 12,209 Cecil Kersting, 20119. 12,091 Leif
Anderson, 202110. 11,831 David Chaffin, 201911. 11,262 Richard Rosche, 201112.
11,253 Jeffrey Sanders, 201513. 10,921 Stephen Dinsmore, 201014. 10,673 James
Beard, 2020 15. 10,468 JPat Valentik, 201716. 10,177 Frank Bumgardner, 201517.
10,136 Robin Carter, 200718. 9,979 Bernard Morris, 202119. 9,883 Don Chalfant,
201820. 9,778 Kent Davis, 202021. 9,679 Karl Overman, 201122. 9,588 Caroline
Eastman, 200723. 9,444 Edwin Smith, 201124. 9,387 Kenneth Brock, 200325. 9,328
Robert Walton, 2013
Unfortunately, that's it for this Covid-abbreviated Vol. 16 of TBN. Hopefully,
2021 will be a better year although I fear many of us will not have received a
vaccine in time for spring. Even with a vaccine (you will have the highest
immunity 3-4 weeks after the last dose), you will need to continue to use a
mask, social distance, and wash your hands frequently. You would not want to
get the virus from someone who has not had the vaccine and note that some of
the new vaccines that may be coming out soon may be less effective than the
previous ones from Pfizer and Moderna. The new Johnson & Johnson vaccine is
very effective for serious Covid, hospitalization and death. And watch the news
for information about the new mutated versions ("variants") of the virus as
some may make the vaccines less effective. They are developing work-around
boosters but we should all be aware of our risk profile. Perhaps the worst
scenario at present is a new mutation that is much more deadly and evades our
vaccines. As noted previously, while I am a social epidemiologist and not
professionally focused on infectious diseases, if anyone has questions about
the pandemic you are welcome to contact me by email. I have been answering many
questions of late. Remember, there are no dumb questions. As with birding (and
most things) the difference between knowing and not knowing is just that.
Personally, this was by far my worst year total ticking, and so I am still
looking for 13,000 total ticks. Yet, perhaps for that reason 2020 has been a
good year for academic work with several papers in journals and others in the
pipeline. What else am I going to do if not birding? As always, you can't list
your ABA totals unless you are a member of the American Birding Association. It
is quite affordable, you get a great deal with the fine magazine, a revised
site for listing, and you help support the oldest national birding association.
Always be good to birds and generous to birders of all stripes, totals and
ranks! For more information on me you can see my Wikipedia page and faculty
page at MTSU (at least the latter has been recently updated!). Good birding and
good totaling!
Kevin BreaultBrentwood, TN
