Sisters count is for the birds

Birders catalogued the avian population of Sisters Country on Sunday, December 15. Eighty-two eager participants drove a total of 2,413 miles to find and identify 69 species of birds, with a total of 11,706 individuals.

The count was part of the 114th Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC), which kicked off on December 14.

The CBC is the longest-running citizen science survey in the world, providing critical data on population trends. Tens of thousands of participants know that it's also a lot of fun. Data from the over-2,300 circles throughout the U.S. is entered after the count and available to anyone under the Audubon Society's Data & Research link.

The CBC tallied 17 rough-legged hawks, flown down from the Arctic to feast on Sisters Country gophers, meadow mice and voles. Most will go on and spend the winter in the Fort Rock/Christmas Valley area.

A total of 108 Eurasian collared doves were found within the 10-mile circle around Sisters. These are Sisters Country's latest invaders. A few Eurasian collared doves were introduced to the Bahamas in the 1970s, and, like most non-resident biological introductions, they escaped (blew away, actually). They made their way to Florida, and have been rapidly colonizing most of North America ever since.

By contrast, only 42 of our native mourning doves were found. You can tell the difference between the foreign and resident doves as soon as you spot them together. The invaders are gray and fat with a broad tail, and a noticeable black ring on the back of their necks. Our skinny native dove has a rosy gray chest, no ring, but a spot on the side of the neck, and a long, pointed tail.

Sixteen white-headed woodpeckers were found. Birders from all over the world travel to Sisters Country to see and place on their life list this rare and beautiful woodpecker - who, like our numerous flickers, sometimes make a real pest of themselves when they start knocking holes in the beautiful wooden sides of local homes.

Seventy-four Western scrub jays were counted. About 20 years ago, they invaded Sisters Country from Bend (they snuck up from California). Only 159 mountain chickadees were found on the CBC, which is somewhat worrisome: an average of 227 chickadees were tallied on previous counts.

Then there's those clouds of robins we see each year about this time. Participants of the CBC came up with a total of 7,138 of them fluttering about the junipers and berry-producing plants of the Sisters area. Robins must have a dependable water source to liquify the prodigious amounts of seeds and dried fruit they gobble up. Without adequate water the fruit they ingest will ferment, causing serious digestive problems.

And the so-called wild turkeys: 55 of them were tallied up on the CBC. Sisters Country residents around Camp Polk are familiar with turkey traffic jams as these invaders stroll up the road, looking for something to pillage.

These feathered giants are not native Oregonians; they were imported from Texas several years ago and planted over in the Willamette Valley and Wasco County. When they become pests to grape and hay farmers in the Valley, ODFW traps them and dumps them here and in the Ochocos.

No one knows what the impact is on our native plants and animals from these non-resident giants.

The next big bird count is the "Great Backyard Bird Count," held February 14-17. For details, visit

http://www.birdsource.org.