Merritt Island Christmas Bird Count

2002 Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count

By Judy Dryja

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count was held on December 16. There were 161 species recorded for the count, this being more than the 33-year average of 157. Highlight species were Red-throated Loon, Swainson’s Hawk, Pomarine Jaeger, Hairy Woodpecker (first time in several years), Great Crested Flycatcher, Empidonax Flycatcher species, Western Kingbird, and American Pipit. Count week species also included American Golden Plover, Purple Sandpiper, Eurasian Wigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wimbrel, and Long-billed Curlew. The Barred Owl was missed again for the third year. Hermit Thrushes were unusually high in numbers. There were nine species of hawks and 15 species of ducks plus two mergansers also recorded. A banded male Painted Bunting was observed among the buntings. This special banding information will be forwarded to Paul Sykes for his study.

The Merritt Island Wildlife Association provided coffee, juice, and donuts for everyone on the count, and they also paid the $5 fee for all participants.

Count compilers Dan Click and Judy Dryja would like to thank the 56 observers, including Refuge personnel who participated in the Count. Special thanks to Refuge Ranger Dorn Witmore for his help and support.

2002 Cocoa Christmas Bird Count Results

The following are the results of the 2002 Cocoa Christmas Bird Count. These numbers were prepared by Dick Novier.

Common Loon	8	Caspian Tern	19
Pied-billed Grebe	35	Royal Tern	549
Horned Grebe	15	Sandwich Tern	62
Northern Gannet	418	Forster’s Tern	130
American White Pelican	441	Black Skimmer	725
Brown Pelican	702	Rock Dove	973
Double-crested Cormorant	1,754	Eurasian Collared-Dove	664
Anhinga	129	White-winged Dove	10
Great Blue Heron	200	Mourning Dove	817
Great Egret	321	Common Ground-Dove	49
Snowy Egret	244	Parrot Species	21
Little Blue Heron	144	Eastern Screech-Owl	3
Tricolored Heron	192	Great Horned Owl	5
Reddish Egret	4	Barred Owl	2
Cattle Egret	178	Whip-poor-will	1
Green Heron	22	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	3
Black-crowned Night-Heron	40	Belted Kingfisher	99
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	1	Red-bellied Woodpecker	57
White Ibis	1,124	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	5
Glossy Ibis	407	Downy Woodpecker	10
Roseate Spoonbill	35	Northern Flicker	2
Wood Stork	235	Pileated Woodpecker	10
Black Vulture	578	Eastern Phoebe	93
Turkey Vulture	723	Western Kingbird	3
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck	10	Loggerhead Shrike	91
Canada Goose	1	White-eyed Vireo	12
Muscovy	27	Blue-headed Vireo	3
Wood Duck	2	Blue Jay	58
Gadwall	1	Florida Scrub-Jay	4
American Wigeon	24	Fish Crow	5,511
American Black Duck	2	Crow Species	6
Mallard	45	Purple Martin	50
Mallard- feral	49	Tree Swallow	1,214
Mottled Duck	76	Cave Swallow	2
Blue-winged Teal	182	Tufted Titmouse	1
Northern Pintail	6	Carolina Wren	32
Green-winged Teal	2	House Wren	25
Ring-necked Duck	2	Sedge Wren	8
Greater Scaup	2	Marsh Wren	2
Lesser Scaup	4,807	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	26
Common Eider	1	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	65
Scooter Species	9	Eastern Bluebird	6
Hooded Merganser	141	Hermit Thrush	2
Red-breasted Merganser	7	American Robin	15,359
Ruddy Duck	3	Gray Catbird	156
Osprey	279	Northern Mockingbird	168
Bald Eagle	15	Brown Thrasher	2
Northern Harrier	10	European Starling	1,352
Sharp-shinned Hawk	8	American Pipit	2
Cooper’s Hawk	6	Cedar Waxwing	1,438
Red-shouldered Hawk	28	Orange-crowned Warbler	5
Red-tailed Hawk	20	Yellow-rumped Warbler	3,646
Crested Caracara	3	Yellow-throated Warbler	3
American Kestrel	74	Pine Warbler	21
Merlin	2	Prairie Warbler	9
Peregrine Falcon	1	Palm Warbler	358
Clapper Rail	2	Black-and-white Warbler	4
King Rail	14	American Redstart	1
Sora	6	Ovenbird	2
Common Moorhen	176	Northern Waterthrush	1
American Coot	452	Common Yellowthroat	78
Limpkin	1	Eastern Towhee	27
Sandhill Crane	46	Chipping Sparrow	48
Black-bellied Plover	16	Savannah Sparrow	41
Killdeer	204	Swamp Sparrow	31
American Oystercatcher	1	Northern Cardinal	122
American Avocet	5	Painted Bunting	43
Greater Yellowlegs	21	Red-winged Blackbird	739
Willet	27	Eastern Meadowlark	11
Spotted Sandpiper	7	Common Grackle	1,660
Ruddy Turnstone	95	Boat-tailed Grackle	2,387
Red Knot	1	Brown-headed Cowbird	432
Sanderling	100	American Goldfinch	638
Least Sandpiper	3	House Sparrow	30
Dunlin	50	Ring-billed Gull	19,738
Dowitcher Species	1	Herring Gull	273
Wilson’s Snipe	7	Lesser Black-backed Gull	3
Laughing Gull	7,723	Great Black-backed Gull	23
Bonaparte’s Gull	4