Nome’s 48th Christmas Bird Count in which common eiders stole the show

Surprises sometimes await us on the Christmas Bird Count and this year an unprecedented number of common eiders stole the show. The 186 eiders even beat out the ravens, who lost their long-standing title as the most abundant bird in the Nome count.

In the days before the bird count, strong north winds pushed the shorefast ice away from the coast. Open waters off West Beach briefly became center stage for viewing seabirds, seals and belugas as they feasted on schools of saffron cod that swam into the shallows to spawn.

Luckily for the comfort of Nome’s 10 volunteer observers, the frigid winds slacked off on the chilly morning of December 16 when we began the count at first light. Without the push of the wind, the water was freezing up fast, but enough open water was still in view to bolster our count with some seabirds.

It was exciting to find large flocks of distant common eiders feeding off West Beach. They were initially bunched up and impossible to count, but eventually strung out in lines to move between feeding areas. There were fewer than the 300 seen the day before, but 186 common eiders topped the previous high count of 50 in 2019.

Glaucous gulls fished with the eiders and were also seen at the mouth of the Nome River and flying along the coast. Long-tailed ducks popped up along the coast between the Nome River mouth and the port.

Observers searched along the road system from vehicles and on foot, while skiers, walkers and a musher on a dog team searched away from the roads. We turned up a total of nine species on count day and 439 individual birds.

In addition to the species found during the count, an additional seven species were seen during count week, which includes the three days before and after count day. Many species that winter here occur in small numbers and can be hard to find on any given day, so count week is an additional opportunity to document the birds that are here.

Most of the expected species were found this year with the exception of black-capped chickadees that usually spill over from the spruce forests into shrub habitats in winter. This winter they have been notably absent.

Nome’s first Christmas Bird Count was in 1975. For decades, relatively few hardy and predictable species that regularly winter in tundra and taiga regions of the far north were found––willow and rock ptarmigan, gyrfalcons, ravens, American dippers, snow and McKay’s buntings, sometimes snowy owls, northern shrikes, black-capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers and redpolls. Occasionally seabirds were seen, but only when observers ventured out to leads in the sea ice.

Since 2015, open water along the coast in mid-December has become increasingly common, almost the norm. Thus, it is a relatively recent development to be able to see seabirds from Nome in mid-December, as we did this year. These species regularly winter along the ice edge in the Bering Sea, so their presence in the region in winter is not unusual.

The Christmas Bird Count began 124 years ago, and has grown into the world’s longest-running, largestscale wildlife census. Nome’s observers are part of a nationwide volunteer effort to census birds across the United States and Canada.

Using consistent methods for scientific comparisons, this massive volunteer effort tracks the abundance and distribution of birds on a scale that scientists could not accomplish alone. These data and the long-term view they provide are hugely important in documenting changes in population size and ranges of bird species across North America.

The bad news is that Christmas Bird Count results echo the disturbing 2019 publication by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that reported a loss of three billion birds in North America since 1970. Despite ever-increasing numbers of observers covering an ever-larger geographical area, the number of birds recorded in last year’s Christmas Bird Count was half what it was 50 years ago.

Although overall bird numbers have declined dramatically, most species are still accounted for, providing some hope for recovery if habitats are protected and deliberate actions are taken to better protect birds.

Being part of the Christmas count is a satisfying way to contribute information about winter distribution of birds in this area. At a time when many factors threaten the future of birds, the information gained from the count here and elsewhere can be used to help make informed policies and decisions to conserve and protect birds.

Birds are literally canaries in the coal mine and if we care about our own future, it would be wise to do all we can ensure a future for birds.

Results of Nome Christmas Bird Count - Dec 16, 2023

Common Eider - 186 Long-tailed Duck - 9 Willow Ptarmigan - 45 Rock Ptarmigan - 4 Glaucous Gull - 14 Rock Pigeon - 3 Common Raven - 174 Snow Bunting - 1 McKay’s Bunting - 3

Additional species seen during Count Week - Dec 13 - 15 and Dec 17 - 19

King eider, gyrfalcon, glaucouswinged gull, American dipper, pine grosbeak, common redpoll and hoary redpoll.

Photo by Kate Persons DUCKS IN A ROW— An impressively long line of common eiders formed off of West Beach during the Christmas Bird Count. Initially the eiders were bunched up and impossible to count. But the water was slushy and when eiders move through slush, they tend to swim in single file lines to save energy while moving through the ice. Eventually we got our ducks in a row and were able to count them as they swam in front of the spectacular backdrop of Cape Rodney. These and a more distant flock totaled a record 186 common eiders.

Photo by Jim Dory LONG TIME VOLUNTEERS – Volunteers Gay Sheffield and Dan Reed paused to hand off fresh baked cookies to Jim Dory and Carol Gales while their assistant, Brownie, looked on. Reed said: "We do the Christmas Bird Count to take a good look at all the wildlife in the area. It seems strange not to see chickadees or shrikes this year as they are normally here all winter long". Sheffield added “All the real action was on the water this count. The bird count is always fun to do, especially this year with all the seal action near shore!”

Photo by Kate Persons * LONG-TAILED DUCK – A long-tailed duck popped up through the slush at the end of the port jetty. Nine long-tailed ducks were seen during the count, which is more than in any previous count.