The 84th Eugene Christmas Bird Count

The 84th Eugene Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on a very foggy December 28, 2025. The fog was cold, sticky, and did not burn off as forecast. Many teams commented that birds were harder to find in the clammy, dim landscape, but everyone was glad it didn’t rain.

We recorded 76,573 birds with a total of 132 species, a species tally just below our average of the last 20 years. However, the actual number of birds was about 3,000 more than last year, despite having a 20-year low of European Starlings (only 3657—last year we had 12,944). Pine Siskin was also much harder to find, in comparison with last year’s record high (1,311 last year but only 26 this year); none of the field counters found them but thankfully several home counters did.

The most unusual birds were a Cinnamon Teal (16 previous years), two Barrow’s Goldeneyes (two years), a Snowy Egret (6 years), 10 Barn Swallows (11 years), two Canada Jays (six years) and a Chipping Sparrow (11 years). A Snowy Egret has been found on four of the last five counts, but it may be the same wintering individual. Barn Swallows also seem to be more consistently found during the count in recent years, with sightings six of the last seven years.

Two additional species were found during count week (the three days before and after the count): Greater Yellowlegs and Short-billed Gulls (formerly called Mew Gull). The rare Hooded Warbler that was in a neighborhood near Hendrick’s Park in late November and early December could not be found. Other misses were Green Heron, Greater Scaup, and Red Crossbill (not around this year, another irruptive species like Pine Siskin).

As usual, we set some new high records, several of which align with high records on the Florence CBC. For ducks, Bufflehead had a new high record of 259 (previous high was 246 in 2022), and 2 Barrow’s Goldeneye also was a new record. American Kestrel has been breaking records on other counts this winter and broke our 20-year record with 148 birds (previous high 144 in 2022; our all-time record is 162 in 1973). Our other records were song birds, possibly because we were able to hear them in the fog: White-breasted Nuthatch with 124 (106 in 2022), Brown Creeper with 124 (105 in 2019), Pacific Wren with a 20-year high of 113 (87 in 2020), and Cedar Waxwing with a 20-year high of 267 (219 in 2021).

Nine teams did 12 hours of owling, with all regular species found except for N. Pygmy Owl. We had 176 participants in the field with another 77 home counters for a total of 253 people involved in the count. We spent 451 hours counting on foot walking 159 one-way mile and 73 hours by car driving 346 one-way miles, all in the goal of counting a 15-mile circle.

We wrapped up with a countdown dinner at the Eugene Garden Club. We last met there for our popular chili feed in 2019. The chili feed crew retired and then the pandemic prevented us from meeting together for a couple years. Dick Lamster retired from running the Eugene CBC (after 20 years!) last January; one of his last contributions was to make sure that the Eugene Garden Club was reserved for this year’s count. We celebrated with Café Yumm and a return of the dessert potluck. Along with celebrating a successful CBC, we took time to express gratitude for Dick and Maeve after many years of volunteer service to Lane Audubon. The CCBA board gifted them with a gift card for a get-away weekend and the countdown participants honored them with a standing ovation.

A big event like this is not possible without many volunteers. Team leaders this year were Mia Baki, Ramiro Aragon, Dan & Anne Heyerly, Darryl Wisner, Rick Ahrens, Donna Albino, Marcia Maffei, John Sullivan, Claire Rozman, Roger Robb, Mathias Anderson, Josh Galpern, Tim Griffith, David Novak, Dick Lamster, Jeff Krueger, Dave Karanek, Sarah Merkle, Julia Siporin, Torrey Gage-Tomlinson, Linda Gilbert, Jim Thomas & Tye Jeske, Caryn Stoess, Vjera Thompson, Steve Alter, Nancy Clogston, Bruce Newhouse, and Ellen Cantor. Ron Renchler and Steve Gordon retired after many years as team leaders. Laura Johnson, Caryn Stoess, Josh Galpern, and Ellen Cantor stepped into new roles as Quadrant Coordinators to help accomplish Dick’s tasks, along with Vjera Thompson as count compiler. Marcia Maffei coordinated all the HomeCounters. At the countdown Maeve Sowles, Robin Bloomgarden, Suzanne Christensen, and Barb Bryson helped with set-up and clean-up, and Alan Contreras hosted. Many thanks to all who made this a successful count!

For more details, with species tally sheet see Christmas Bird Count page.