Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count (CBC)

In December, ASNV conducts the Christmas Bird Count within the Manassas-Bull Run Count Circle. Over 100 volunteers are organized within different sectors to count all the birds they can find on the count day. To learn more about this long-standing (120 years) citizen science project, visit National Audubon.

The 2023 CBC will be held on Sunday, December 17. Interested participants can contact compiler Phil Silas for more information.

Results of the 2023 Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count

Phil Silas, Compiler

The conditions were not auspicious for the 42nd annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count, but the results still broke some records! Ninety-eight birders counted 21,767 birds of 78 species in this 15-mile diameter circle on December 17, 2023. There were 34 parties of field observers led by experts. The teams included birders of all skill levels, and one feeder-watcher. A thick fog slowed bird sightings early in the day, and skies remained overcast all day with rain becoming steady in early afternoon. 

The biggest surprise was that we observed 12 species in numbers that broke the record for the highest numbers set on any of the 41 previous counts. Species with new high totals, in taxonomic order, were Great Blue Heron (38), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (91), Pileated Woodpecker (83), Northern Flicker (219), Carolina Wren (534), Gray Catbird (4), Brown Thrasher (4), Hermit Thrush (66), White-throated Sparrow (1,649), Swamp Sparrow (40), and Eastern Towhee (91). We observed no rare species, and we counted several species in just one sector. These included White-crowned Sparrow and Pine Warbler in Sector 1; American Black Duck and Common Merganser in Sector 3; Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, and Eastern Phoebe in Sector 4; Double-crested Cormorant in Sector 5; and Wood Duck, Northern Harrier, American Tree Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark in Sector 6. Two of the record-breaking Brown Thrashers were sighted in Sector 2.

Some other notable numbers included, the 1,706 Cedar Waxwings that were just 30 short of the record set in 2007; 4,010 American Robins, which seemed to be everywhere; and 4 Barred Owls. 

Of course, a big thank you goes to all who participated, especially my fellow sector leaders Robin Duska Huff, Greg Butcher, Dixie Sommers, Toby Hardwick, and Robert Mocko. Robert led Sector 6 for the first time and did very well thanks in part to Steve Johnson’s giving us plenty of notice and smoothing the transition. A special thanks goes to Dixie Sommers for leading Sector 4 for the past seven years. She’s handing Sector 4 off to a new leader for 2024. It’s not too early to mark your calendars for the 43rd count on Sunday, December 15, 2024. 

The spreadsheet with all the data by sector is linked here.

Results of the 2022 Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count

Phil Silas

The results of the 41st annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count are in!

On December 18, 2022, nearly 100 birders counted almost 20,000 birds of 82 species in this 15-mile diameter circle. There were 36 parties of field observers led by experts and including birders of all skill levels. There were a few snow flurries before dawn, but the day got clearer and the breeze was very light as the temperature reached a high of 41 degrees. There was no grackle “cyclone” this year, which brought the overall bird number count down from last year, when we counted 10,000 Common Grackles: we counted only 17 this year.

We tallied all three local falcons (American Kestrel, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon) for only the third time this century. All of the six sectors had at least one species unique to the count.

• Sector 1 had Wild Turkey and Brown-headed Cowbird.

• Sector 2 had Gray Catbird and a Pine Siskin.

• Sector 3 had Common Merganser and Killdeer.

• Sector 4 had Double-crested Cormorant and a new high count (20) of Lesser Scaup.

• Sector 5 had Great Horned Owl and the most Pine Siskin of any sector (7).

• Sector 6 had a Mute Swan, Merlin, and Wilson’s Snipe (8, the highest in the history of this count).

The overall count of 16 Common Raven beat the all-time high of 15 set just last year. We don’t find Red-breasted Nuthatch every year, so it was a treat to find 25, which ranks in the top 5 of our counts. Eastern Bluebirds continue to do well, as our average for the past three years is over 500. All six sectors tallied observations of four of the species that exceeded 1,000: Canada Goose (4,362); European Starling (2,044); White-throated Sparrow (1,230); and Dark-eyed Junco (1,173). Observers in four of the six sectors observed Ring-billed Gull, which numbered 1,968.

A big thank you to all participants and my fellow sector leaders Robin Duska Huff, Greg Butcher, Dixie Sommers, Toby Hardwick, and Steve Johnson. You can review the summary of all the data by sector here.

2021 Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count Summary

The 40th Annual Manassas-Bull Run Christmas Bird Count on December 21, 2021 was conducted for the 2nd year following special Covid-19 protocols. The participant count was 101 field observers plus 3 feeder watchers as a limited number of new volunteers joined the count. We managed to safely count nearly 34,000 birds which is 11,500 more than last year, thanks in great part to over 10,000 Common Grackles. These grackles were observed on just a few routes, but those who saw them won’t soon forget the spectacle of birds massing together in loud, tight flocks at ground level and up to the treetops swirling like tornadoes. The overall species count was 78 which is the average for the life of this count. We again had to forego our traditional lunch in Ellanor C. Lawrence Park due to the pandemic. The birding conditions were favorable in that it stopped drizzling by about 7:40 AM and remained in the low 40s with light winds under an overcast sky.

Species that were observed in only one of our six sectors included the American Pipit, Merlin, Gadwall, American Woodcock, Brown Thrasher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Savannah Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark. Several species were observed in only two sectors, including Red-breasted Nuthatch, Great Horned Owl, American Kestrel, Double-crested Cormorant, Herring Gull, Killdeer, American Black Duck, Bufflehead, Chipping Sparrow, and Gray Catbird.

Other highlights included all-time highs of White-throated Sparrow at 1,477, and Hermit Thrush where 45 were observed; easily surpassing the 30 recorded in 1998. The Brown Creeper count of 34 passes the previous record of 31 observed in 1996. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers at 55 tied the count of 2017. Eastern Bluebirds had their highest count of 508 since our all-time high of 510 in 2014. American Kestrels reached double-digits of 10 for the first time this century.

There were three count week observations which don’t register in the official species number  but are notable. These were Tundra Swan, Pine Warbler, and Green-winged Teal. The teal was the rare Eurasian sub-species and seen on the Middlesex Drive Pond southwest of Dulles Airport in Loudoun County.

Full results for the count can be found here.  

Thanks to all for safely participating in this event, and we look forward to a more traditional event with a few more birders on Sunday, December 18, 2022!

Here are some photos taken by participants in this year’s count. Click any image for a larger version.