2025 Moscow-Pullman Christmas Bird Count

Saturday, December 20 – find details and volunteer to participate below

The 55th consecutive (and 72nd overall) Moscow-Pullman Christmas Bird Count will be Saturday, December 20th. The post-count social will be at Shattuck West in Moscow. Feel free to share this with your birding friends!

This year we are helping to pilot the transition to National Audubon’s new on-line registration system: Mobilize. We ask that you register for the Moscow-Pullman CBC Group if you are either interested in participating in the count (or in future counts) or just interested in hearing the final results. Please do this even if you have been participating in the CBC for one year or decades (see privacy statement below).

How to register through the mobilize system

• Follow this link to the Mobilize registration site.
• Please answer the three questions.
• After you submit your registration, you will receive a confirmation email. In that email, follow one or more links and sign-up for field teams (ID or WA) and/or to do a feeder watch (ID or WA).
• For questions about on-line registration, contact moscowpullmancbc@gmailcom

To register via a direct email to organizers, Idaho side folks may contact Kas Dumroese (moscowpullmancbc@gmail.com) and Washington side birders may contact Marie Dymkoski (Marie-Dymkoski@msn.com) or Monique Slipher (mslipher@hotmail.com).

Documents for the CBC created by Kas Dumroese, Moscow-Pullman Christmas Bird Count compiler.

December 14, 2024 Moscow-Pullman Christmas Bird Count results

The 54th consecutive (and 71st overall) Moscow–Pullman Christmas Bird Count
was held 14 December 2024. We had a record 71 participants, besting the
record breaking 66 we had last year, with 28 field teams and 19 feeder
watchers. Volunteers spent about 39 hours driving 383 miles, 64 hours
walking 74 miles, and 24 hours watching feeders. We tallied 71 count day
species (plus 2 count week species) and 11,429 individuals. The number of
count day species was above our 10-year running average of 68, and our
total individuals was a bit below our 10-year running average of 12,453.

We added 2 new species: *GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE* (2) and *GADWALL*. We
set new high-count records for 5 species (new high; old high, year),
including a record that had stood for nearly half a century: *GREAT BLUE
HERON* (17; 12, 2004), *BELTED KINGFISHER* (9; 7, 2018), *AMERCIAN CROW*
(117; 96, 2021, 2022), *MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE* (76; 72, 1975), and *EUROPEAN
STARLING* (4,149; 4,016, 2020). We also tied high counts for 5 species: *LESSER
SCAUP* (1; 2011), *VIRGINIA RAIL* (1; 2012), *SHARP-SHINNED HAWK* (14;
2023), *SAY’S PHOEBE* (1; 2018), and *RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH* (187; 2018).
Our 2 count week species were PINE GROSBEAK and BOHEMIAN WAXWING; single
birds of each species.

No doubt, our two recent high counts for participants are due to
involvement by the Paradise Audubon Society, a new University of Idaho
student organization. The mild (non-existent?) winter kept water open. We
tallied 8 waterfowl species (SNOW GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE,
CACKLING GOOSE, CANADA GOOSE, MALLARD, AMERICAN WIGEON, LESSER SCAUP, and
GADWALL), a record number of GREAT BLUE HERON, and the marshy species
VIRGINIA RAIL, KILLDEER, and MARSH WREN. Open water also yielded our record
number of BELTED KINGFISHERS. On the flip side, this was the first time in
our consecutive bird counts (1971–2024) where we did not tally a
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK. And where are the frugivores? Many of you commented
about crabapples, hawthorns, and mountain ashes dripping with fruit. After
four terrible years (2019–2022) of BOHEMIAN WAXWING counts (2, 6, 2, and
11), we rebounded to 180 last year only to plummet to a single bird this
year during CW. CEDAR WAXWING, AMERICAN ROBIN, and VARIED THRUSH numbers
were also very low. A good showing of MERLIN (7), just one bird shy of
tying the high count record, was a treat.

About 30 participants gathered at the Lumberyard Food Yard in Pullman to
enjoy the post-count social. Next year’s count is on Saturday, 20 December!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Kas Dumroese and Casey Lowder

Compilers