2018 Bird Feeder Summary

We record all the bird species that visit our bird feeding station each month, or land in the crab apple that holds the bird feeder.  To date, we have had 56 bird species recorded.

• The number of species that visited the feeder throughout the course of the year (40) set the new record, beating 2016's 39 species.
• New birds for 2018 included Brown Thrasher, Field Sparrow, and Scarlet Tanager.
• Average number of species per month (17.5) increased from 2017's 17.3 species per month, but was still only the second best year, behind 2016's record of 18.2 species per month.
• The 24 most common bird species of 2018 (in descending order of frequency were: 
• Carolina Chickadee (12/12) months
• Downy Woodpecker (12/12) months
• House Finch (12/12) months
• House Sparrow (12/12) months
• Northern Cardinal (12/12) months
• Song Sparrow (12/12) months
• White-breasted Nuthatch (12/12) months
• American Goldfinch (11/12) months
• Tufted Titmouse (11/12) months
• American Robin (10/12) months
• European Starling (8/12) months
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (8/12) months
• Blue Jay (7/12) months
• Carolina Wren (7/12) months
• Dark-eyed Junco (7/12) months
• Mourning Dove (7/12) months
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (7/12) months
• Brown-headed Cowbird (6/12) months
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird (6/12) months
• Chipping Sparrow (4/12) months
• White-crowned Sparrow (4/12) months
• Red-winged Blackbird (3/12) months
• Golden-crowned Kinglet (2/12) months
• Pine Siskin (2/12) months
• Looking at six years of data, the month with the most bird diversity is May, with 37 species observed.  October is the second best at 33, and April is third at 29.  June is the worst month, with only 20 bird species observed.
• Several regular birds appear to be trending upwards in frequency.  (Birds only seen once or twice were ignored.)  {Change in frequency = (2018 freq - total freq)/total freq}
• Red-winged Blackbird (356% increase in frequency) showed up 3 months in 2018, but only seen one other month prior.
• Pine Siskin (204% increase in frequency)
• Red-breasted Nuthatch (204% increase in frequency) showed up 7 months in 2018.  This is a steady increase from past years.  I like having these little guys around.
• White-crowned Sparrow (87% increase in frequency) has shown up every May for the six years of records.
• Song Sparrow (59% increase in frequency) seems to like the native plantings.
• Carolina Wren (37% increase in frequency)
• White-breasted Nuthatch (26% increase in frequency)
• Several regular birds appear to be trending downwards in frequency.
• Cedar Waxwings (62% decrease in frequency) only showed up one month in 2018.
• House Wren (45% decrease in frequency)
• American Tree Sparrow (39% decrease in frequency)
• Chipping Sparrow (34% decrease in frequency)
• Eastern Bluebird (32% decrease in frequency)
• Gray Catbird (24% decrease in frequency)
• Mourning Dove (18% decrease in frequency)
• European Starling (16% decrease in frequency) might be related to the new suet feeder placement.
• Common Grackle (13% decrease in frequency)