Hello, tweeters.

I was just doing some research at the USGS Breeding Bird Survey site, and I was looking at a table of population trends of Washington breeding birds over the last 44 years. I thought the results were sufficiently interesting to share them. The trends for many species in the table are up or down, not surprising, but these are the ones that were considered statistically significant. All others are considered stable statistically but may well be increasing or declining. This doesn't tell you the percentage increase or decrease, which may be very little or much more substantial, but you can get that from the website: http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/atlasa10.pl?WAS&2&10

There are some surprises among the more obvious trends, and you can match this with your own experiences. I presume the reason Anna's Hummingbird and Eurasian Collared-Dove are not on the list is because they weren't even present in the state when these surveys began. Interestingly, neither European Starling nor House Sparrow has shown a significant change over that period.

This site is a wonderful place to learn about North American birds, by the way.

BREEDING BIRD SURVEY RESULTS FOR WASHINGTON SPECIES

STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATA FOR PERIOD 1968-2011


DECLINES

Killdeer

Wilson?s Snipe

Ring-necked Pheasant

Rufous Hummingbird

Downy Woodpecker

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Red-eyed Vireo

Barn Swallow

Horned Lark

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Pacific Wren

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Veery

Varied Thrush

Orange-crowned Warbler

MacGillivray?s Warbler

Wilson?s Warbler

American Redstart

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Western Meadowlark

Brown-headed Cowbird

Cassin?s Finch

Red Crossbill

Pine Siskin



INCREASES

Canada Goose

Gadwall

California Quail

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Say?s Phoebe

Warbling Vireo

Bank Swallow

Steller?s Jay

Common Raven

Brown Creeper

Bewick?s Wren

House Wren

Marsh Wren

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Common Yellowthroat

Spotted Towhee

Black-headed Grosbeak

Western Tanager

Bullock?s Oriole

House Finch

-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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