Christmas bird counts (CBCs) are the earliest form of what has come to be known as “citizen science” – ordinary people observing the natural world to satisfy their own enthusiasm, and recording what they see as a way of providing data for trained scientists.
CBCs began in 1900 in reaction to a holiday tradition that saw hunters choosing sides and going afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of dead feathered (and furred) quarry won. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman in the early Audubon Society proposed a substitute “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds in the holidays rather than kill them. So began the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to Chapman and 27 other dedicated birders, 25 CBCs were held that day in locations all the way from Toronto to Pacific Grove, California.
Today, counts are organized under the auspices of the National Audubon Society during the Christmas season. Volunteers are assigned areas to cover and set out usually in teams to see what birds are there. They count every bird – European starlings and rock pigeons are accorded the same importance as a wintering thrush or a rare gyrfalcon. Teams compete in a good-natured way and results are usually tabulated in a festive setting (read “lots of food and drink”). Results are transmitted to national headquarters and provide a valuable, wide-ranging survey of bird populations.
The Pakenham-Arnprior Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is steeped in history. Two of the earliest counts held in Canada were formerly conducted in the area covered by the current Pakenham-Arnprior CBC. The first was the Arnprior CBC, which ran from 1913 to 1939 (the latter years seem to be not recorded with Audubon and apparently no count was held in 1933). All through its existence, the Arnprior CBC had but two participants: Charles Macnamara and Liguori Gormley. Covering the count only by foot, Macnamara and Gormley tallied an admirable 42 species. Those who feel the current count’s date of Boxing Day is less than desirable should be aware that the Arnprior counts were held on Christmas Day, a reflection of the unmarried status of its participants!
The second Christmas Bird Count to arise locally was the Pakenham CBC, initiated on December 23, 1925 by Edna Ross and her brother Allan Ross. Their sister Verna added her name to the count “Rosster” the following year, and in 1931 brother Wilmer joined the group, keeping it a family affair. Verna continued to participate right up to 1999, the year she turned 92! The Pakenham CBC was not held in 1956, the year Edna was travelling abroad, or in 1957, due to her illness. Thus, between 1925 and 1939, remarkably not one but two Christmas Bird Counts were held in much of the area currently covered by the Pakenham-Arnprior CBC.
In 1970, the count circle (with a standard 7.5 mile radius) was shifted slightly to include more of the area covered under the original Arnprior Count, and the name “Pakenham CBC” was changed to the current “Pakenham-Arnprior CBC” not only to reflect the slight change in the count area but also and more importantly to recognize the two historic counts from which it arose.
Between 1913, the year Charles Macnamara and Liguori Gormley set out on foot to conduct the very first local Christmas Bird Count, and 2015, the most recent count, which had more than 40 participants, a remarkable 126 species have been recorded (six new species were added in 2015!). It is noteworthy that less than half of all of those species have been exclusively encountered on “Pakenham-Arnprior” counts; the two early counts run by a mere handful of people, and often conducted solely on foot, collectively tallied a remarkable 64 species.
Naturally, with more observers and a developed knowledge of where birds are in the count area and how to find them, the average number of species per count has risen. For the past 15 counts, the average total has been 54 species. The record is 66 species tallied in 2001.
Some fascinating history of birds in this region has been documented on the local CBCs. For example, the first European Starlings to be recorded on the Arnprior Christmas Bird Count were 33 individuals tallied in 1926 (the first of this species to be seen in Arnprior was “collected” in April 1922); in that very same year, six were recorded, also for the first time, on the Pakenham CBC. Another species that has moved into this area is the House Finch; it was first recorded on the Pakenham-Arnprior CBC in 1984, a mere year after this species was initially observed in the Arnprior region. Currently, this “new species” appears to be on the decline; even more dramatic is the decline of European Starlings and House Sparrows. In 1998, 1,964 European Starlings were tallied; in 2015 the count was 528. House Sparrows have shown an even greater decline: in 1985, 2,011 were tallied while in 2017 only 81 were recorded. Bald Eagles, on the other hand, have become common, and are expected on every count; 28 were recorded on the 2014 count and 26 tallied in 2017.
Wild Turkeys (a non-native species released in our area) was first recorded on the count in 1999, and now are common. Two formerly rare “native” species – Merlin and Red-bellied Woodpecker – are now regularly tallied. Merlins have recovered from their DDT-induced decline while Red-bellied Woodpeckers are southern birds expanding their range northward, likely due to climate change.
For the results of various CBCs, see: http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count. On that site, you will find options for searching counts by province or state, count, or species. If you wish to see the historical results of our counts, the Arnprior counts are found under “Arnprior” while the Pakenham counts are listed under “Pakenham-Arnprior (ONPA)” and are the years 1925 to 1969. It appears that when a count goes through a name change, the counts held under its earliest name are listed under the count’s new name.
This summary lists each species recorded on the three local Christmas Bird Counts, its highest count and the year of that record. If the record number is the same for a large number of counts, then only the most recent year is given and it is demarked with an asterisk. If a species has been recorded on fewer than ten CBCs, the number of times it has been observed is given; if more than ten CBCs, it is denoted as “>10.” All of the specific Christmas Bird Counts on which a species has been recorded are also listed: “A” stands for Arnprior; “P” for Pakenham; and “PA” for Pakenham-Arnprior.
2024 Pakenham-Arnprior CBC
December 26, 2024
| Species | Individuals |
| Canada Goose | 9 |
| American Black Duck | 1 |
| Mallard | 60 |
| Common Goldeneye | 3 |
| Common Merganser | 8 |
| Red-Breasted Merganser (9th) | 1 |
| Ruffed Grouse | 6 |
| Wild Turkey | 602 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 2 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 6* |
| American Goshawk | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 26 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 22 |
| Roughed-legged Hawk | 3 |
| Herring Gull | 32 |
| Rock Pigeon | 530 |
| Mourning Dove | 531** |
| Barred Owl | 5 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 2** |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 65 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 80 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 29 |
| American Kestrel | 1 |
| Merlin | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon (5th) | 2* |
| Northern Shrike | 8 |
| Blue Jay | 509 |
| American Crow | 2,500** |
| Common Raven | 99 |
| Horned Lark | 26 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 775 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 26 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 147 |
| Brown Creeper | 9 |
| Winter Wren (6th) | 2* |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 1 |
| American Robin | 118 |
| European Starling | 383 |
| Bohemian Waxwing | 1 |
| Lapland Lonspur | 1 |
| Snow Bunting | 559 |
| American Tree Sparrow | 70 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 204 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 |
| Northern Cardinal | 73** |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2nd) | 1* |
| Dickcissel (New) | 1** |
| Eastern Meadowlark (5th) | 1 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 2 |
| House Finch | 30 |
| Red Crossbill | 33 |
| American Goldfinch | 174 |
| Evening Grosbeak | 75 |
| House Sparrow | 10 |
| Total Species: 56 | Total Individuals: 7,872 |
| 43 field observers | 8 feeder watchers |
| * | Ties record High |
| ** | Record High Count |
| Boldfaced species | Observed < 10 times prior to this year’s count |
| (#) | Current number of times uncommon species have been recorded on counts |
| Bold and Underlined | New species |
Previous CBC Records
CBC Record Highs
| Species | High Count | Year | # Counts | |
| Snow Goose | 1 | 2001 | 1 | PA |
| Canada Goose | 1,561 | 2015 | >10 | PA |
| Wood Duck | 2 | 1974, 1978 | 5 | PA |
| Blue-winged Teal | 1 | 1998 | 1 | PA |
| Gadwall | 1 | 2005, 2022 | 2 | PA |
| American Wigeon | 1 | 1999 | 1 | PA |
| Mallard | 262 | 2011 | >10 | PA |
| American Black Duck | 14 | 2015 | >10 | P, PA |
| Northern Pintail | 3 | 2007 | 3 | PA |
| Green-winged Teal | 1 | 2011, 2016 | 2 | PA |
| Redhead | 1 | 2021 | 1 | PA |
| Ring-necked Duck | 2 | 2011 | 6 | P, PA |
| Greater Scaup | 1 | 2006 | 1 | PA |
| Lesser Scaup | 1 | 2006 | 1 | PA |
| Surf Scoter | 1 | 2001 | 1 | PA |
| White-winged Scoter | 1 | 1984 | 1 | PA |
| Bufflehead | 1 | 1966, 1998, 2007 | 3 | P, PA |
| Common Goldeneye | 101 | 2015 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Hooded Merganser | 6 | 2001 | >10 | P, PA |
| Common Merganser | 189 | 2001 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Red-breasted Merganser | 2 | 2006 | 9 | PA |
| Ruddy Duck | 1 | 2006 | 1 | PA |
| Gray Partridge | 83 | 1987 | >10 | P, PA |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | 3 | 1955 | 4 | P, PA |
| Ruffed Grouse | 73 | 1992 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Wild Turkey | 849 | 2010 | >10 | PA |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 | 1987, 1998, 2008 | 3 | PA |
| Red-necked Grebe | 1 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| Rock Pigeon | 1148 | 1987 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Mourning Dove | 534 | 2024 | >10 | PA |
| Wilson’s Snipe | 1 | 1992 | 1 | PA |
| Ring-Billed Gull | 10 | 2015 | 6 | PA |
| Herring Gull | 316 | 2015 | 10 | P, PA |
| Iceland Gull | 1 | 2009 | 1 | PA |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 1 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| Glaucous Gull | 4 | 2005 | 4 | PA |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 31 | 2015 | 10 | PA |
| Red-throated Loon | 1 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| Common Loon | 8 | 2001 | 5 | PA |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 2 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| Great Blue Heron | 3 | 1986, 1996 | 8 | PA |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | 2022 | 1 | PA |
| Bald Eagle | 28 | 2014, 2020 | >10 | PA |
| Northern Harrier | 9 | 2006 | 6 | PA |
| Sharp-Shinned Hawk | 6 | 1984 | >10 | P, PA |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 6 | 2004 | >10 | P, PA |
| American Goshawk | 6 | 1984 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 26 | 2001 | >10 | PA |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | 2023 | 1 | PA |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 51 | 1987 | >10 | P, PA |
| Golden Eagle | 2 | 2012, 2014 | 8 | PA |
| Eastern Screech-Owl | 3 | 2015 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Great Horned Owl | 13 | 1985 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Snowy Owl | 15 | 2013 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Northern Hawk Owl | 1 | 1990* | 4 | PA |
| Barred Owl | 10 | 2013 | >10 | PA |
| Great Gray Owl | 3 | 2004 | 5 | PA |
| Long-eared Owl | 1 | 1991, 2014, 15, 18 | 4 | PA |
| Short-eared Owl | 6 | 1994 | 6 | PA |
| Boreal Owl | 1 | 1934, 2004 | 2 | A, PA |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | 2 | 2014, 2017, 2019 | 10 | A, PA |
| Belted Kingfisher | 2 | 1970, 2013, 2023 | >10 | P, PA |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | 1 | 1981 | 1 | PA |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 4 | 2022 | >10 | PA |
| Downy Woodpecker | 112 | 1995 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 128 | 2018 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| American Three-toed Woodpecker | 6 | 1974 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Black-backed Woodpecker | 6 | 1985 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Northern Flicker | 1 | 2021, 2023 | 2 | PA |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 37 | 2018 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| American Kestrel | 10 | 1988 | >10 | P, PA |
| Merlin | 5 | 2021 | >10 | PA |
| Peregrine Falcon | 2 | 2022, 2024 | 6 | PA |
| Northern Shrike | 14 | 1986 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Gray Jay | 5 | 1972 | 5 | A, P, PA |
| Blue Jay | 795 | 1997 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| American Crow | 2,500 | 2024 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Common Raven | 212 | 2012 | >10 | PA |
| Horned Lark | 169 | 1985 | >10 | P, PA |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1,655 | 1994 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Boreal Chickadee | 3 | 1970 | 8 | A, PA |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 468 | 2000 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 286 | 2020 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Brown Creeper | 39 | 2000 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Winter Wren | 2 | 2014, 2017, 2024 | 6 | PA |
| Carolina Wren | 2 | 2001 | 5 | PA |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 146 | 1984 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Eastern Bluebird | 7 | 2021 | 3 | PA |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | 2016 | 1 | PA |
| American Robin | 279 | 2016 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Varied Thrush | 1 | 1990, 2013 | 2 | PA |
| Brown Thrasher | 1 | 1983, 2017 | 2 | PA |
| Northern Mockingbird | 1 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| European Starling | 1,964 | 1998 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Bohemian Waxwing | 1,053 | 2008 | >10 | P, PA |
| Cedar Waxwing | 262 | 1984 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| House Sparrow | 2,011 | 1985 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Evening Grosbeak | 2,047 | 1987 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Pine Grosbeak | 240 | 1981 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| House Finch | 400 | 2000 | >10 | PA |
| Purple Finch | 409 | 1994 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Red Crossbill | 84 | 2023 | >10 | P, PA |
| White-winged Crossbill | 1,145 | 1984 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Common Redpoll * | 2,714 | 2020 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Hoary Redpoll* | 16 | 2020 | >10 | PA |
| Pine Siskin | 1,089 | 2000 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| American Goldfinch | 1,162 | 1994 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Lapland Longspur | 6 | 1961 | >10 | P, PA |
| Snow Bunting | 3,185 | 1976 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Eastern Towhee | 1 | 1997 | 1 | PA |
| American Tree Sparrow | 447 | 1994 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Chipping Sparrow | 1 | 1996 | 1 | PA |
| Field Sparrow | 1 | 2002 | 1 | PA |
| Vesper Sparrow | 1 | 1994 | 1 | PA |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 2001, 2017 | 2 | PA |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 | 2000 | 1 | PA |
| Song Sparrow | 4 | 1996 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 | 2009 | 1 | PA |
| White-throated Sparrow | 3 | 1979, 2022 | >10 | A, PA |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1984, 96 | 7 | PA |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 462 | 2017 | >10 | A, P, PA |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 10 | 2000, 2015 | >10 | PA |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 2 | 1975, 84 | 5 | P, PA |
| Rusty Blackbird | 1 | 2009 | 1 | PA |
| Common Grackle | 5 | 1974 | >10 | A, PA |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 11 | 1980 | >10 | PA |
| Bullock’s Oriole | 1 | 2015 | 1 | PA |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 2 | 1974 | 4 | A, PA |
| Common Yellowthroat | 1 | 2001 | 1 | PA |
| Northern Cardinal | 73 | 2024 | >10 | PA |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 1 | 2008, 2024 | 2 | PA |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 1 | 2003 | 1 | PA |
| Dickcissel | 1 | 2024 | 1 | PA |
Total Species: 132*
*Common Redpoll and Hoary Redpoll are lumped into Redpoll in 2024
Record Count Species: 66 (2001)
Record Count Individuals: 11,561 (2020)
Two historic Counts preceded the current Pakenham-Arnprior CBC. The Arnprior CBC started In 1913 while the Pakenham CBC started In 1925, the latter continuing to run under that title until 1970 when its name was changed to the current one to honour both early counts whose collective areas it continues to cover.
The last column indicates under which CBC title each species has been recorded.
A = Arnprior CBC
P = Pakenham CBC
PA = Pakenham-Arnprior CBC
The list follows the taxonomic order of the most recent edition of the American Ornithological Society’s Checklist of North and Middle American birds.