Albemarle County, VA 12/20/2020

Charlottesville Area Christmas Bird Count (CBC) Section 4

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Every year the Audubon Society requests birders to survey their local areas on one day between the middle of December and early January. The Charlottesville Area CBC was held today this year. I was asked to help out in Section 4, and chose an area in that section between Crozet and Charlottesville that included mostly wooded residential and some pasture land. Elevations range from about 600 feet to about 900 feet. It also includes a private residence where I have permission to go birding. For the past two winters, a Baltimore Oriole had been coming to feeders at this residence, but so far this year, it has not returned.

The weather was overcast and a little drizzly early in the morning, so I waited for most of it to clear and arrived at the start of the area at 11:00 a.m. The temperature was in the mid-40s with only a slight breeze. By early afternoon, it was a bit warmer and mostly sunny. I spent the first two hours at the private residence, and this year was able to hike down a trail to the Mechums River (last year it was too icy for this hike on the CBC date). After two hours, I drove along Tillman Road, and did birding where I have highlighted the map below in yellow. The map shows my survey area bounded by the bright green lines, and all of the roads within the area shown in white are private roads where I did not have permission to enter. Roads shown in red where either too dangerous to stop, or I didn't see/hear any birds while driving. I ended up back at the private residence for about fifteen minutes, and ended my three hour CBC count with 27 avian species and 130 birds counted.

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CBC Route

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Northern Cardinal

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Carolina Wren

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White-breasted Nuthatch

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Black Vulture

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Downy Woodpecker

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Northern Flicker

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Red-bellied Woodpecker

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Hairy Woodpecker

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Hairy Woodpecker

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Hairy Woodpecker

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Golden-crowned Kinglet

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Pine Siskin

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Red-tailed Hawks

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Tufted Titmouse

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White-throated Sparrow

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House Finch with reddish-orange coloring

One of the House Finches had a crossed bill. I assume that this feature was only a deformity. However, Red Crossbill x Pine Siskin hybrids (both finches) are known to exist, and Crossbill x finches (several) are known to exist in Europe. Without any other similarities to Crossbills, I am fairly confident that bill deformity is correct for this House Finch.

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House Finch with crossed bill

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House Finch with crossed bill

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House Finch with crossed bill

Species Count
Black Vulture1
Turkey Vulture 7
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 11
Tufted Titmouse 9
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 12
Northern Mockingbird 1
Dark-eyed Junco 5
White-throated Sparrow 16
Song Sparrow 6
Eastern Towhee 1
Northern Cardinal 5
House Finch 9
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 3

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