PROJECTS
Four-letter (English Name) and Six-letter (Scientific Name) Alpha Codes
for 2098 Bird Species (and 98 Non-Species Taxa) in accordance with the 55th AOU Supplement (2014), sorted by English name
County Big Years
Dr. Stephen Lindsay did a Big Year in 2001. He attempted to see 200 birds in Kootenai County during the year 2001. He tallied up only 199 and on January 1, 2002 he found a Snowy Owl on Rathdrum Prairie. Had he found it the day before he would have made his 200. This gave me the idea of doing a Kootenai County Big Year as a group. I started this project in 2002 and published our progress on the two list serves, Inland-nw-birders and IBLE. The idea of doing County Big Years caught on. Twenty-four out of 43 Idaho Counties are doing Big Years this year. The results are posted on www.idahobirds.net. Shoshone, Bonner and Benewah counties are also our Audubon website. Washington State birders are now doing county big years.
Kootenai County 2018
Kootenai County 2019
Kootenai County Spring Arrivals and first date seen for the year 2002 - the present
This is a chart showing the first date a species was observed for the year. In the case of migrants, it would be a first arrival date (although the bird could likely have arrived a day or two earlier but was not observed and reported until the date given). Because of the size of the chart, it is presented on three web pages. If you want to see who reported it and where, check the Kootenai County Big year pages. You can compare Kootenai County arrival dates with other counties doing Big Years on www.idahobirds.net.
Blue Bird Trails
Click here for a summary of bluebird box data collected between 2000-2015 - The summery includes all three trails: Hoo Doo, Mica Bay, Mica Flats
History of the Mica Bay Trail: "Spring Creek Bird House Project: A Letter To My Niece" - Click here to read.
Bluebird Trails Report - Summer 2015
I have completed entering the nest data we have collected from our three bluebird trails into the The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Nest Watch program . See: http://nestwatch.org
Here are the results of this year’s effort:
Western Bluebird:
Hoo Doo – 29 attempts with 21 having at least 1 young that had fledged – 147 eggs produced 88 nestlings of which 88 fledged – a 72.41 % rate of success
Mica Bay - 1 attempt with 1 having at least 1 young that fledged – 5 eggs which produced 4 nestling if which all 4 fledged - a 100% rate of success
Mica Flats – 7 attempts with 5 having at least 1 young that fledged –39 eggs produced 20 nestlings of which 17 fledged – a 71.43% success rate.
Tree Swallow:
Hoo Doo – 37 attempts with 28 having at least 1 young that had fledged – 207 eggs produced 130 nestlings of which 121 fledged – a 76.68% rate of success
Mica Bay – 8 attempts with 7 having at least 1 young that fledged – 43 eggs produced 29 nestlings of which 29 fledged – a 87.5% success rate
Mica Flats – 9 attempts with 6 having at least 1 young that fledged – 42 eggs produced 27 nestlings of which 19 fledged – a 66.76% success rateHouse Wren:
Hoo Doo: 2 nests fledged young – as usual we could not see into the nest to count eggs or nestlingMountain Chickadee
Hoo Doo: 1 nest with 6 eggs that didn't hatchI want to thank this year’s bluebird team for checking and recording the nest boxes.
Team Members this year were: Peggy Albertson, Kris Buchler, Darlene Carlton, Linda Chalcraft, , Roland Craft, Carrie Hugo Rob and Nancy Kroese, Ronn Rich, Marilyn Robinson, Vera Taggart, Linda Wolovich. A special thanks to Roland, Darlene, Rob and Nancy who not only took turns doing Hoo Doo but took charge of doing Mica Bay and Mica Flats.
Checklist of Birds Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes
This checklist is compiled by Lisa Hardy. It is a PDF file and may be printed out (2 pages). Click here for checklist
The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes traverses a diverse array of habitats, including some of the best birding locales in North Idaho. Ranging over 1100' feet in elevation, from the shore of Coeur d'Alene Lake at 2150' to the mixed conifer forest around Mullan at 3250', and including wetlands, agricultural fields, urban streetscapes, cottonwood groves, and deep water, the Trail bisects all the major low-elevation habitat types found in North Idaho. This habitat profile yields a potential list of 189 species, plus an additional 48 very rare specie
Christmas Bird Counts
Science in Action: From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual missioNovember_2012n - often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season. Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations - and to help guide conservation action. Read More
Our Chapter sponsors three Christmas Bird Counts
- Coeur d'Alene -compiled by Shirley Sturts and Doug Ward
- Spirit Lake - compiled by Shirley Sturts - no longer being done
- Indian Mountain - compiled by Lisa Hardy and Don Heikkila
See results:
Century Counts
Every year we do a Century Count covering one of the 5 northern counties. Our goal is see if we can find at 100 or more species in one day. This is an all day effort, from around 5 a.m. to dusk.
Yardlist
Compiled by Lisa Hardy 2000-2011
Compiled by Doug Ward 2012-2015
Rathrum Prairie Raptor Run
Doug Ward designed a Rathdrum Prairie Winter Raptor Survey Route. .This survey is part of a larger project organized by the East Cascades Audubon Society out of Bend, Oregon, to help determine population densities for birds-of-prey which spend their winters in our region. These surveys, affectionately known as “Raptor Runs”, are set up to transect areas which are known wintering grounds for primarily the larger raptors (principally the Buteo hawks).
Click on the dates below for the results.
Compiled by Doug Ward
Field Trip Results
February 14, 2015 - Great Backyard Bird Count
February 21, 2015 - Winter Birds in Lincoln County, WA
March 3, 2015 - Mica Bay Survey
April 24-26 - Walla Walla Bird and Wine
May 14-18, 2015 - City of Rocks National Reservee and Castle Rocks State Park
June 6, 2015 - Bonner County Century Count
September 6, 2016 - Slavin Ranch
April 14, 2018 - Turnbull Wildlife Refuge