The Golden Belt is home to two Wetlands of International Importance, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area in Barton County and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Stafford County. Both participated this month in the Christmas Bird Count.

Curtis Wolf, site manager for the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, compiled the report for the Cheyenne Bottoms Bird Count, held on Dec. 20.

“This was the 47th year the Christmas Bird Count has been held in Barton County/Cheyenne Bottoms area,” Wolf said. “The first was held in 1958, but counts have not been held every year after that.”

This year, there were 17 participants, including staff from KWEC, The Nature Conservancy, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and several community members from Ellinwood, Great Bend, Hoisington, Lyons, Wichita and Topeka. They documented 87 species, which is about average for this count. A total of 3,577,812 individual birds were reported. Working in teams, the birders covered a 15-mile diameter territory that included Cheyenne Bottoms, as well as much of Hoisington, Great Bend, Ellinwood and other parts of the county.

“The relatively mild winter we’ve had contributed to the diversity we saw,” Wolf said. Some interesting observations this year:

• First time observed during Christmas Bird Count — Nashville Warbler and Lesser Black-backed Gull

• 54,651 Snow Geese observed

• 2,130 Northern Shovelers was a high count

• 21 Least Sandpipers was a high count and this was only the second year they have been reported on this count

• 20 Greater Yellowlegs was a high count and this was only the third year they have been reported

• 2 Dunlin was a high count and this was only the second year they have been reported

• 6 White-faced Ibis is a high count; this is only the fourth year they have been reported

• 1 California Gull was spotted; this is only the third year they have been reported

• 1 Iceland Gull was spotted; this is only the second year they have been reported

• 281 American White Pelicans is a high count

• 51 Bald Eagles is the second-highest count

• 16 Great Horned Owls is a high count

• 3 Snowy Owls is the second-highest count and this was the seventh year they have been reported

• 593 American Robins is a high count

“Several birds were observed during the Count Week, but were not observed on the count day,” Wolf said. These included Double-crested Cormorant, Whooping Crane and Wilson’s Phalarope.

There were some notable missed species: American Wigeon, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Cooper’s Hawk, Merlin, White-winged Dove, Barn Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Bluebird, Field Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Great-tailed Grackle and Pine Siskin have all made appearances in the past but not this year.

Quivira Bird Count

The Quivira NWR count was held on Dec. 14. Mike Rader, wildlife education supervisor, reports the 13 participants covered a 15-mile radius area and recorded 98 species. There were five additional species not seen on count day but detected for count week – three days before and three days after Dec. 14.

“That species count is really good, especially for the weather being so warm,” Rader said. “We did have lots of waterfowl, with 23 species observed.”

Highlights at Quivira included three Trumpeter and 68 Tundra Swans. There were also “lots of raptors” (birds of prey with a hooked beak and large sharp talons) seen with 102 Northern Harriers, 140 Red-tailed Hawks, 33 Bald Eagles and 24 Rough-legged Hawks reported.

“There were still 7,500 Sandhill Cranes at the Big Salt Marsh and a good number of shorebirds were seen, not typically still around in mid-December,” Rader said. “Special sightings were two American Avocets, 31 Greater Yellowlegs, six Dunlin, 14 Least Sandpipers and nine Long-billed Dowitchers. A Snowy Owl was observed during count week, but not on count day. Sparrow numbers consisted of over 2,000 American Tree Sparrows and almost 450 Harris’s Sparrows. It was a great day to be out!” 

About Wetlands of International Importance

In 1971, an international convention was held in Ramsar, Iran and participants signed a treaty entitled, “The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat.” The Ramsar Convention provides a framework for voluntary international cooperation for wetland conservation.

The U.S. acceded to the Ramsar Convention on April 18, 1987. There are now 40 designated sites in the United States, including two in Kansas.

About the Christmas Bird Count

Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition, a “Christmas Bird Census,” that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them. That year, 27 birders conducted 25 counts.

Today, each November, birders interested in participating in the Christmas Bird Count can sign up and join in through the National Audubon Society website. From Dec. 14 through Jan. 5 each year, tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation action.