126th Annual New Haven Christmas Bird Count Report
On Saturday, December 20, 2025, 98 birders (most of them NHBC members) participated in the Christmas Bird Count in New Haven. The participants fanned out in our typically well-organized fashion and thoroughly covered the fourteen areas within the count circle. Some people started before dawn and finished after sunset while others went out for a few hours early in the day. The weather was favorable for birding as there was no precipitation, snow on the ground, nor strong winds. Cold weather before the day of the count resulted in most of the still bodies of water to be frozen. Our final total of 124 species was close to our 30-year average. Some of the uncommon to rare species seen on count day were: Cackling Goose, Northern Pintail, Ruddy Duck, Wilson’s Snipe, Bonaparte’s Gull, Iceland Gull, Northern Gannet, Black-crowned Night-heron, Long-eared Owl, Monk Parakeet, Brown Thrasher, American Pipit, Red Crossbill, Lapland Longspur, White-crowned Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Rusty Blackbird. As always, the participants showed dedication and tirelessness in their efforts and importantly the work of the area captains was time-consuming, necessary and much appreciated.
The final results for the bird species observed were: Snow Goose, CW; Brant, 488; Cackling Goose, 1; Canada Goose, 5141; Mute Swan, 88; Wood Duck, 4; Northern Shoveler, 6; Gadwall, 88; American Wigeon, 16; Mallard, 909; American Black Duck, 216; Northern Pintail, 1; Green-winged Teal, 17; Ring-necked Duck, 107; Greater Scaup, 916; Lesser Scaup, 14; Common Eider, 1; Surf Scoter, 9; White-winged Scoter, 126; Black Scoter, 8; Long-tailed Duck, 268; Bufflehead, 341; Common Goldeneye, 160; Hooded Merganser, 338; Common Merganser, 14; Red-breasted Merganser, 191; Ruddy Duck, 3; Wild Turkey, 25; Pied-billed Grebe, 1; Horned Grebe, 10; Rock Pigeon, 963; Mourning Dove, 635; Clapper Rail, 9; Virginia Rail, 3; American Coot, 7; Black-bellied Plover, 1; Killdeer, 20; Ruddy Turnstone, 2; Sanderling, 5; Dunlin, 3; Purple Sandpiper, 27; Wilson’s Snipe, 2; Bonaparte’s Gull, 2; Ring-billed Gull, 850; Herring Gull, 1365, Iceland Gull, 2; Great Black-backed Gull, 40; Red-throated Loon, 16; Common Loon, 51; Northern Gannet, 1; Great Cormorant, 6; Double-crested Cormorant, 6; Great Blue Heron, 28; Black-crowned Night-heron, 1; Black Vulture, 33; Turkey Vulture, 22; Northern Harrier, 9; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 14; Cooper’s Hawk, 21; Bald Eagle, 22; Red-shouldered Hawk, 26; Red-tailed Hawk, 85; Eastern Screech Owl, 21; Great Horned Owl, 15; Barred Owl, 6; Long-eared Owl, 1; Belted Kingfisher, 26; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 22; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 137; Downy Woodpecker, 181; Hairy Woodpecker, 39; Pileated Woodpecker, 14; Northern Flicker, 61; Merlin, 1; Peregrine Falcon, 1; Monk Parakeet, 2; Blue Jay, 609; American Crow, 1036; Fish Crow, 319; crow, species, 139; Black-capped Chickadee, 388; Tufted Titmouse, 402; Horned Lark, 71; Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 3; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 13; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 37; White-breasted Nuthatch, 192; Brown Creeper, 15; Winter Wren, 15; Marsh Wren, 3; Carolina Wren, 186; European Starling, 4036; Gray Catbird, 9; Brown Thrasher, 1; Northern Mockingbird, 138; Eastern Bluebird, 56; Hermit Thrush, 11; American Robin, 238; Cedar Waxwing, 85; House Sparrow, 1234; American Pipit, 1; House Finch, 372; Purple Finch, 7; Red Crossbill, 2; American Goldfinch, 234; Lapland Longspur, 1; Snow Bunting, 47; Chipping Sparrow, 2; Field Sparrow, 2; American Tree Sparrow, 80; Fox Sparrow, 18; Dark-eyed Junco, 823; White-crowned Sparrow, 1; White-throated Sparrow, 607; Savannah Sparrow, 10; Song Sparrow, 438; Swamp Sparrow, 21; Eastern Towhee, 7; Eastern Meadowlark, 1; Red-winged Blackbird, 158; Brown-headed Cowbird, 37; Rusty Blackbird, 7; Common Grackle, 569; blackbird, species, 180; Yellow-rumped Warbler, 7; and Northern Cardinal, 369.
The participants were: Jhoni Ada, Jean Adamus, Caroline and Gary Alexander, Dewitt Allen, Ross Allen, Mark Aronson, Frank Bartlett, Dan Barvir, Ada Ben-Salahuddin, Kristen Biatowas, James Broatch, Stephen Broker, Charlotte Brown, Lauren Brown, Cheryl Cape, Sue Caperino, Gilles Carter, Nancy Clark, Adrienne Dest, Michael Digioia, Paul Dimauro, John Farley, Claire and Mary Flanagan, Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, Michelle Fredericks, Frank Gallo, Susan Glendon, Mark Grogan, Peter Grund, Luke and Sarah Hendon, Sharon Hirsch, Margret Hofmeister, Catherine Holland, Courtney and James Hunter, Kimberly Jannarone, Diana Johnson, Lynn Jones, Zion Jones, Emily Keating, Bernice Lattanzi, Michael Lavorgna, Patrick Leahy, Aaron Lefland, Carol and Gary Lemmon, Ann Marie Lorello, Donna Lorello, Chris Loscalzo, Alan Malina, Frank Mantlik, Stephen Mayo, Florence McBride, Devin Merico, Alison Middlemass, Judy Moore, Tom Murray, Jake Musser, Michael O’Brien, John Oshlick, Maggie Proctor, Beverly Propen, Tashi Pnu, Frank and Nancy Ragusa, Bill Rankin, Darryl Rathbun, Brendan and Hudson Reilly, Laurie Reynolds, Jason Rieger, Jessica Roberts, Daniel Russo, Lee Schlesinger, Abby Sesselburg, Arthur Shippee, James Sirch, Paul Smith, Nancy Specht, Andy Stack, Brian Stacey, Maria Stockmal, Charles Strasser, Henry Tan, Tommie Thornbill, Elizabeth and John Triana, Marianne Vahey, Lisa Wahle, Mark Wantroba, Ryan Wirtes, Chris Woerner, David Woolery, Molly Zahn and Roy Zang.
Sincere thanks to all of the participants and area captains.
Warm wishes for a happy, healthy and birdy new year.
Chris Loscalzo,
New Haven CBC Compiler (for 30 years and counting now!)