2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

Report by Peter Candido

The 2022 Vancouver Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday December 17th. The morning saw intermittent rain, the temperature was 2-3 C and winds were light at about 7 kph from the east. Light fog offshore in the morning limited visibility for observing waterbirds, though the sea was fairly calm. The rain ended around noon and skies cleared somewhat. Though some shoreline was exposed early in the morning, the tide was high for most of the day. 

As was the case last year, winter finches and grosbeaks were in short supply, with very few Pine Siskins or Red Crossbills and no Pine Grosbeaks or Redpolls reported. A note about the American Crow number: because of a high incidence of avian influenza currently, it was deemed prudent to avoid approaching the large crow roost in Burnaby and arriving birds could only be observed from one distant vantage point, so the crow count is not representative. This is reflected in the lower count of total individuals this year. Also, this year Area V (east Richmond) was not covered due to lack of a leader. 

The species total stands at 121 with 47,537 individuals, compared to 124 species and 71,756 individuals in 2021. 

A big Thank You to all who contributed to the count! If you notice any errors or omissions in the data, please contact me at pcandido328@shaw.ca

Some Highlights

Tundra Swan 1 in Area H
Black Scoter 9 in Area Y (from boat)
Ruddy Duck 1 in Area N 
Black Turnstone 2 in Area D West
Least Sandpiper 6 in Area S
Western Sandpiper 3 in Area S
White-throated Sparrow 2, one each in Areas J & S 
Short-eared Owl 1 in Area U 
Band-tailed Pigeon 7 in Area U 
Mourning Dove 1 in Area U 
Mountain Bluebird 2 in Area M 
Chipping Sparrow 1 in Area D East 

­Complete List of Species Observed

2021 Numbers for Comparison

No.Species20222021
1Snow Goose39096492
2Cackling Goose541840
3Canada Goose20761770
4Trumpeter Swan 65
5Tundra Swan10
6Wood Duck169100
7Northern Shoveler5698
8Gadwall8595
9Eurasian Wigeon2211
10American Wigeon23183608
11Mallard39753669
12Northern Pintail177933
13Green-winged Teal573377
14Ring-necked Duck2034
15Greater Scaup2130
16Lesser Scaup2189
17Surf Scoter3971692
18Black Scoter90
19White-winged Scoter59013
20Long-tailed Duck42
21Bufflehead317330
22Common Goldeneye300161
23Barrow’s Goldeneye12811634
24Hooded Merganser5861
25Common Merganser4786
26Red-breasted Merganser29062
27Ruddy Duck11
28Pied-billed Grebe516
29Horned Grebe6916
30Red-necked Grebe23
31Western Grebe190
32Rock Pigeon1912950
33Band-tailed Pigeon70
34Eurasian Collared-Dove3765
35Mourning Dove11
36Anna’s Hummingbird244188
37Virginia Rail33
38American Coot85149
39Black Oystercatcher2626
40Killdeer1014
41Black Turnstone29
42Sanderling22
43Dunlin105070
44Least Sandpiper60
45Western Sandpiper30
46Wilson’s Snipe85
47Spotted Sandpiper24
48Greater Yellowlegs11
49Common Murre20180
50Marbled Murrelet110
51Bonaparte’s Gull7248
52Short-billed Gull4991016
53Ring-billed Gull110137
54California Gull2620
55Herring Gull52
56Iceland (Thayer’s) Gull477
57Glaucous-winged Gull30484330
58Red-throated Loon98
59Pacific Loon134
60Common Loon2213
61Brandt’s Cormorant6276
62Double-crested Cormorant168361
63Pelagic Cormorant185124
64Great Blue Heron78109
65Northern Harrier1116
66Sharp-shinned Hawk96
67Cooper’s Hawk2411
68Bald Eagle115121
69Red-tailed Hawk2432
70Rough-legged Hawk14
71Barred Owl13
72Short-eared Owl10
73Belted Kingfisher96
74Red-breasted Sapsucker46
75Downy Woodpecker3117
76Hairy Woodpecker13
77Pileated Woodpecker139
78Northern Flicker367241
79American Kestrel16
80Merlin43
81Peregrine Falcon26
82Hutton’s Vireo12
83Northern Shrike31
84Steller’s Jay7282
85American Crow533232,134
86Common Raven6347
87Black-capped Chickadee1693970
88Chestnut-backed Chickadee   10183
89Bushtit530310
90Golden-crowned Kinglet377323
91Ruby-crowned Kinglet149154
92Red-breasted Nuthatch4113
93Brown Creeper6145
94Pacific Wren138117
95Marsh Wren98
96Bewick’s Wren3024
97American Dipper42
98European Starling25831862
99Mountain Bluebird20
100Townsend’s Solitaire51
101Varied Thrush83223
102Hermit Thrush321
103American Robin1885255
104Cedar Waxwing1617
105House Sparrow121134
106Evening Grosbeak10
107House Finch389213
108Purple Finch358
109Red Crossbill280
110Pine Siskin51270
111American Goldfinch31050
112Chipping Sparrow10
113Fox Sparrow166337
114Dark-eyed Junco17761279
115White-crowned Sparrow92129
116Golden-crowned Sparrow178321
117White-throated Sparrow21
118Song Sparrow11361343
119Spotted Towhee554582
120Red-winged Blackbird149399
121Yellow-rumped Warbler122
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