NEWSLETTERS ~ CURRENT NEWS ~ BUTTERFLY COUNT ~ CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT ~ NATIVE PLANTS & PRAIRIE ~ VOLUNTEER
The National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running survey of American bird populations ever conducted.
Learn how it all began
Learn how the data collected is used
Rochester's Annual Christmas Bird Count
Every December our volunteers work in teams to scout Rochester, Minnesota and the surrounding area for birds. We typically find more than 50 species and frequently turn up an unusual species or two! Everyone is welcome to participate. We count from the warmth of cars or on short hikes. We also need home feeder reports from the day of the count. Our numbers are reported to National Audubon and added to a CBC database that has been collected annually for more than 100 years! The Official Count period established by the National Audubon Society is Dec. 14 thru Jan. 5 (the same date window every year).
Oour next Christmas Bird Count will be on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025
We'll meet at 7:15 a.m. at Silver Lake in Rochester near the old fire station to divide into teams. Each team will cover a section of the Rochester count circle. A mid-day tally will be held at Quarry Hill Nature Center from noon to 1 p.m. (bring your own lunch). An end-of-day tally will be held at the Nature Center starting around 4:45 p.m. All participants are invited to attend. This will be a light potluck supper with soup and bread provided. Some teams bird just in the morning, and some go out all day. Counting is done from the warmth of cars or on short hikes. Participants should dress for the weather and bring binoculars, field guides, and a pen or pencil. To pre-register or for more information contact Clifford Hansen at 507-281-0249 or clhroch@yahoo.com.
More resources and reference material for count day:
CBC Registration Form
CBC Field Tally Sheet (download pdf file)
Feeder Report Form as a pdf OR Feeder Report Form as a Word Doc
CBC Count Circle Map (15 mile diameter - the center of the circle is located at the 37th ST NW bridge over Hwy 52 - near IBM)
This alternate map has a little more detail but it's a much larger file - either can be used.
Data for those that want to dig deeper: These files will be updated with 2024 data by mid-January 2025
2019- 2023 CBC Count Day Species - 5 Year Summary ( .xls file)
Yearly Rochester CBC Total Species Results - Total Species found on Count Day + additional during Count Week (CW)
CBC Data - All CBC results since 1959 - (.xls file)
Learn how it all began
Learn how the data collected is used
Rochester's Annual Christmas Bird Count
Every December our volunteers work in teams to scout Rochester, Minnesota and the surrounding area for birds. We typically find more than 50 species and frequently turn up an unusual species or two! Everyone is welcome to participate. We count from the warmth of cars or on short hikes. We also need home feeder reports from the day of the count. Our numbers are reported to National Audubon and added to a CBC database that has been collected annually for more than 100 years! The Official Count period established by the National Audubon Society is Dec. 14 thru Jan. 5 (the same date window every year).
Oour next Christmas Bird Count will be on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025
We'll meet at 7:15 a.m. at Silver Lake in Rochester near the old fire station to divide into teams. Each team will cover a section of the Rochester count circle. A mid-day tally will be held at Quarry Hill Nature Center from noon to 1 p.m. (bring your own lunch). An end-of-day tally will be held at the Nature Center starting around 4:45 p.m. All participants are invited to attend. This will be a light potluck supper with soup and bread provided. Some teams bird just in the morning, and some go out all day. Counting is done from the warmth of cars or on short hikes. Participants should dress for the weather and bring binoculars, field guides, and a pen or pencil. To pre-register or for more information contact Clifford Hansen at 507-281-0249 or clhroch@yahoo.com.
More resources and reference material for count day:
CBC Registration Form
CBC Field Tally Sheet (download pdf file)
Feeder Report Form as a pdf OR Feeder Report Form as a Word Doc
CBC Count Circle Map (15 mile diameter - the center of the circle is located at the 37th ST NW bridge over Hwy 52 - near IBM)
This alternate map has a little more detail but it's a much larger file - either can be used.
Data for those that want to dig deeper: These files will be updated with 2024 data by mid-January 2025
2019- 2023 CBC Count Day Species - 5 Year Summary ( .xls file)
Yearly Rochester CBC Total Species Results - Total Species found on Count Day + additional during Count Week (CW)
CBC Data - All CBC results since 1959 - (.xls file)
Tally & photos from our December 14, 2024 count:
Conditions were not ideal for our Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, Dec. 14. Last year we tolerated misty conditions but this year we had actual ice to contend with. Roads were slick first thing in the morning - then we had a bit of a break mid day before conditions deteriorated and forced most of our teams to give up by 3pm. It was just too dangerous to be out.
All was not lost though, and our nine teams were able to locate 52 species on count day. Eleven additional "count week" birds were found making a grand total of 63 species for 2024. Last year we found 57 species on count day plus 7 count week birds giving us a total of 64 - so pretty close to the same.
Incredibly, a Gray Catbird was found this year by Dave Gross. It's the first time a Catbird has been found on our count - and he even got a photo! Other great finds included Red-shouldered Hawks, an immature Northern Harrier, Eastern Screech Owl, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse and Rusty Blackbirds.
Several teams were able to meet up for a quick lunch at Quarry Hill that day, but icy roads later in the day meant our traditional pot luck and final tally was not well attended. We want to thank our coordinator Clifford Hanson, our team leaders and all the volunteers who went out in search of birds. Thanks also to Quarry Hill for the use of their facilities during the day,
Our preliminary species list is below. Let us know right away if you have a bird at your feeder that isn't on the list so we can include it with "count week" birds. We'll post updates in the coming days as numbers are confirmed.
2024 species list:
Greater White-fronted Goose -- cw
Ross's Goose -- cw
Canada Goose -- 4624
Wood Duck -- 3
Gadwall -- 42
American Black Duck -- cw
Mallard -- 718
Ring-necked Duck -- 3
Common Goldeneye -- cw
Hooded Merganser -- 1
Common Merganser -- cw
Ring-necked Pheasant -- 7
Wild Turkey -- 102
Double-crested Cormorant -- cw
Northern Harrier -- 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 2
Cooper's Hawk -- 4
Bald Eagle -- 25
Red-shouldered Hawk -- 2
Red-tailed Hawk -- 34
Rough-legged Hawk -- 2
Wilson's Snipe -- cw
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- 425
Eurasian Collared-Dove -- 27
Mourning Dove -- 40
Eastern Screech-Owl -- 1
Great Horned Owl -- 1
Barred Owl -- 6
Belted Kingfisher -- 2
Red-headed Woodpecker -- 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker -- 37
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- 2
Downy Woodpecker -- 89
Hairy Woodpecker -- 31
Northern Flicker -- 14
Pileated Woodpecker -- 9
American Kestrel -- 3
Merlin -- cw
Peregrine Falcon -- cw
Blue Jay -- 154
American Crow -- 1742
Black-capped Chickadee -- 205
Tufted Titmouse -- 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch -- 2
White-breasted Nuthatch -- 87
Brown Creeper -- 5
Eastern Bluebird -- 7
American Robin -- 339
Gray Catbird -- 1 - first time seen on the count
European Starling -- 805
Cedar Waxwing -- 80
Snow Bunting -- cw
American Tree Sparrow -- 137
Dark-eyed Junco -- 401
White-throated Sparrow -- 11
Song Sparrow -- cw
Northern Cardinal -- 133
Red-winged Blackbird -- 1
Rusty Blackbird -- 3
House Finch -- 208
Purple Finch -- 5
American Goldfinch -- 125
House Sparrow -- 468
Total Species = 63
Total Individuals = 11,184
52 species found the day of the count
11 count week birds
cw = Count Week bird
All was not lost though, and our nine teams were able to locate 52 species on count day. Eleven additional "count week" birds were found making a grand total of 63 species for 2024. Last year we found 57 species on count day plus 7 count week birds giving us a total of 64 - so pretty close to the same.
Incredibly, a Gray Catbird was found this year by Dave Gross. It's the first time a Catbird has been found on our count - and he even got a photo! Other great finds included Red-shouldered Hawks, an immature Northern Harrier, Eastern Screech Owl, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse and Rusty Blackbirds.
Several teams were able to meet up for a quick lunch at Quarry Hill that day, but icy roads later in the day meant our traditional pot luck and final tally was not well attended. We want to thank our coordinator Clifford Hanson, our team leaders and all the volunteers who went out in search of birds. Thanks also to Quarry Hill for the use of their facilities during the day,
Our preliminary species list is below. Let us know right away if you have a bird at your feeder that isn't on the list so we can include it with "count week" birds. We'll post updates in the coming days as numbers are confirmed.
2024 species list:
Greater White-fronted Goose -- cw
Ross's Goose -- cw
Canada Goose -- 4624
Wood Duck -- 3
Gadwall -- 42
American Black Duck -- cw
Mallard -- 718
Ring-necked Duck -- 3
Common Goldeneye -- cw
Hooded Merganser -- 1
Common Merganser -- cw
Ring-necked Pheasant -- 7
Wild Turkey -- 102
Double-crested Cormorant -- cw
Northern Harrier -- 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 2
Cooper's Hawk -- 4
Bald Eagle -- 25
Red-shouldered Hawk -- 2
Red-tailed Hawk -- 34
Rough-legged Hawk -- 2
Wilson's Snipe -- cw
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- 425
Eurasian Collared-Dove -- 27
Mourning Dove -- 40
Eastern Screech-Owl -- 1
Great Horned Owl -- 1
Barred Owl -- 6
Belted Kingfisher -- 2
Red-headed Woodpecker -- 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker -- 37
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- 2
Downy Woodpecker -- 89
Hairy Woodpecker -- 31
Northern Flicker -- 14
Pileated Woodpecker -- 9
American Kestrel -- 3
Merlin -- cw
Peregrine Falcon -- cw
Blue Jay -- 154
American Crow -- 1742
Black-capped Chickadee -- 205
Tufted Titmouse -- 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch -- 2
White-breasted Nuthatch -- 87
Brown Creeper -- 5
Eastern Bluebird -- 7
American Robin -- 339
Gray Catbird -- 1 - first time seen on the count
European Starling -- 805
Cedar Waxwing -- 80
Snow Bunting -- cw
American Tree Sparrow -- 137
Dark-eyed Junco -- 401
White-throated Sparrow -- 11
Song Sparrow -- cw
Northern Cardinal -- 133
Red-winged Blackbird -- 1
Rusty Blackbird -- 3
House Finch -- 208
Purple Finch -- 5
American Goldfinch -- 125
House Sparrow -- 468
Total Species = 63
Total Individuals = 11,184
52 species found the day of the count
11 count week birds
cw = Count Week bird
2021 Count Report (pdf)
2020 Count Report (pdf)
2018 Count Report (jpg)
2017 Count Report (pdf)
2016 Count Report (pdf)