Bird Census Includes Eagles

Volunteers saw more than 1,500 birds from 37 different species, some rarely seen during the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge’s participation in the four-day, nationwide Great Backyard Bird Count.

Friends of Great Swamp NWR recorded 300 persons visiting the refuge during the period with most of the counting and focus on the bird feeders outside the Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center. Also included were reports from birders who went out in the refuge with a final count of 1,648 birds including the sighting of three bald eagles.

Visitors who helped with the census learned to identify birds common to the area and made pine cone bird feeders to take home for the enjoyment of woodpeckers.

Besides the eagles, watchers spotted two barred owls and a red-headed woodpecker. The most numerous species sighted were grackles, which arrived as a huge flock estimated at 500 or more birds. There were also large flocks of mixed blackbirds that arrived periodically and crowded out smaller birds, keeping the count of the tinier species lower than expected.

Friends of Great Swamp NWR submitted their findings each day to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. The Cornell data will be used by scientists to evaluate bird populations across the U.S. and Canada. Before all the reports were submitted, more than 596 species were reported as observed nationwide for a total of more than 10 million birds listed  on  77,000 checklists, including four from Friends at the refuge. Throughout all of New Jersey 151 species were logged.

This is the 10th year refuge volunteers participated with the Friends in the Great Backyard Bird Count. Scientists use the data to study birds and the information can point to species that may be imperiled in certain areas.