The results are in for the 2025 Christmas Bird Count (CBC), an annual volunteer-run census of birds across North America, which took place in Huntsville and the surrounding area on December 16.
Volunteers of this year’s count tallied 36 species of birds and 3,374 individual birds, which is slightly higher than the 3,210 average. Participants included 31 experienced observers in the field, plus nine locals reporting from their feeders. Officials say disadvantages for the count this year were the lack of unfrozen water and limited finch species due to the absence of tree crops. However, good weather conditions were helpful for observing.
Most common birds spotted on the count included mallards, blue jays, and black-capped chickadees. Rare species that were spotted this year included a Cooper’s Hawk, two Song Sparrows, and a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which is usually only present in Muskoka from May to September and has only been spotted during count week once before in 2019. The day after the count, a Snowy Owl was photographed as it perched on a snowshoe hare it had captured along Stahls Road.
The Huntsville CBC occurred within a 24 km area centred on Huntsville Town Hall and included Port Sydney, Etwell, Melissa, Williamsport, Hillside and South Portage.
The CBC is run by Birds Canada in partnership with National Audubon Society in over 2000 locations across the Western Hemisphere each year from December 14 until January 5. Initiated in 1900, Birds Canada reports it is North America’s longest-running Citizen Science Project and is one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data.
