I count birds every winter for Cornell’s Project Feederwatch. It’s part of their citizen science program, in which birdwatchers around the United States and Canada report the variety and number of birds that visit through the winter. PFW is instrumental in determining fluctuations in population and migration patterns, as well as tracking various bird diseases like eye disease in House Finches. Here’s who visited my balcony feeders this weekend:
- Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
- Downy Woodpecker 1
- Carolina Chickadee 4
- Tufted Titmouse 5
- White-breasted Nuthatch 2
- Brown-headed Nuthatch 3
- Carolina Wren 2
- Song Sparrow 2
- White-throated Sparrow 1
- Dark-eyed Junco 1 *First one to visit our balcony!*
- Northern Cardinal 3
- House Finch 2 (0 with eye disease)
The numbers represent the biggest group of each species at a time, not the cumulative total over the weekend. That is, the most Chickadees that visited me at one time was four; the biggest group of Titmice contained five birds. Not bad for a little balcony, right? I wonder what other Lincoln Greeners saw this weekend.
