The 48th annual Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count was held on Jan. 5. This was an Islandwide event with 69 observers out in the field counting all the birds they could find and another 35 observers counting the birds visiting their bird feeders.

The final results are presented below. We had close to ideal weather, with only a light breeze and temperatures ranging from 23 degrees at dawn to a high of 43 degrees in the afternoon.

A total of 130 species were recorded, with one additional subspecies. This ties the 2003 count for the record number of species observed.

The total of 56,140 birds counted is about average. We get higher numbers when we can see the tens of thousands of sea ducks (primarily eiders and scoters) that are in our waters; this year our visibility was hampered by high seas.

Three additional species were not observed on count day but were observed during count week, which is the three days before and after the count.

The names of 12 species that are most unusual for the count are in bold text. Numbers that are highlighted in bold text indicate the nine species that set new highs for numbers of individuals counted.

Species Number Counted

Snow goose (white form) 2

Brant 108

Canada goose 3,030

Mute swan 227

Wood duck Count Week

Gadwall 12

Eurasian wigeon 1

American wigeon 46

American black duck 3,400

Mallard 2,000

Northern pintail 8

Green-winged teal 16

Canvasback 7

Redhead 2

Ring-necked duck 157

Greater scaup 854

Lesser scaup 37

Scaup species 1

King eider Count Week

Common eider 9,450

Harlequin duck 134

Surf scoter 950

White-winged scoter 758

Black scoter 4,500

Scoter species 2,400

Long-tailed duck 1,520

Bufflehead 2,730

Common goldeneye 1,100

Hooded merganser 311

Common merganser 20

Red-breasted merganser 830

Ruddy duck 103

Red-throated loon 60

Common loon 212

Pied-billed grebe 1

Horned grebe 167

Red-necked grebe 3

Northern gannet 4

Double-crested cormorant 7

Great cormorant 39

American bittern 1

Great blue heron 36

Great egret 1

Black-crowned night heron 6

Turkey vulture 19

Northern harrier 21

Sharp-shinned hawk 12

Cooper’s hawk 10

Small accipiter sp. 1

Red-tailed hawk 66

Rough-legged hawk Count Week

Merlin 4

Peregrine falcon 2

Ring-necked pheasant 2

Wild turkey 89

Virginia rail 1

American coot 7

Black-bellied plover 41

Sanderling 328

Purple sandpiper 10

Dunlin 87

Common snipe 1

Bonaparte’s gull 72

Ring-billed gull 211

Herring gull 1,760

Great black-backed gull 230

Black-legged kittiwake 6

Razorbill 56

Rock pigeon 240

Mourning dove 660

Barn owl 7

Eastern screech-owl 23

Great horned owl 3

Snowy owl 1

Short-eared owl 1

Northern saw-whet owl 10

Belted kingfisher 11

Red-bellied woodpecker 71

Yellow-bellied sapsucker 5

Downy woodpecker 224

Hairy woodpecker 25

Northern flicker 142

Eastern phoebe 2

Northern shrike 2

Blue jay 746

American crow 1,050

Horned lark 140

Black-capped chickadee 2,200

Tufted titmouse 55

Red-breasted nuthatch 233

White-breasted nuthatch 267

Brown creeper 18

Carolina wren 215

Winter wren 9

Marsh wren 3

Golden-crowned kinglet 63

Ruby-crowned kinglet 5

Eastern bluebird 177

Hermit thrush 18

American robin 2,500

Gray catbird 75

Northern mockingbird 99

Brown thrasher 2

European starling 2,900

Bohemian waxwing 4

Cedar waxwing 414

Yellow-rumped warbler 876

Pine warbler 14

Palm warbler 5

Common yellowthroat 1

Yellow-breasted chat 2

Eastern towhee 33

American tree sparrow 45

Chipping sparrow 14

Field sparrow 58

Savannah sparrow 32

Ipswich sparrow 1

Fox sparrow 8

Song sparrow 500

Swamp sparrow 24

White-throated sparrow 500

White-crowned sparrow 2

Dark-eyed junco 322

Snow bunting 132

Northern cardinal 612

Dickcissel 1

Red-winged blackbird 12

Eastern meadowlark 24

Rusty blackbird 1

Common grackle 5

Brown-headed cowbird 16

Baltimore oriole 1

Purple finch 1

House finch 795

Common redpoll 5

American goldfinch 436

House sparrow 752

Total birds 56,140