Results of the DeKalb County, Tennessee, Christmas Bird Counts, 2003-present

One of the more common woodland species found in DeKalb County during winter, the Golden-crowned Kinglet, depicted above, is a tiny bird that is hard to capture on "film"; photo Carol D. Williams.

The DeKalb County Christmas Bird Count was initiated December 30, 2003, when 18 observers counted 75 species of birds in a 177-square-mile circle including much of Center Hill Lake, Smithville, and the surrounding countryside.  Coverage continued during the period of 2004-2007.

    Smithville supports a population of Eurasian Collared-Doves.  Twenty were counted in 2003, then a record high CBC total for the Upper Cumberland Region, but one that was  superseded by a count from Pikeville, Bledsoe County, TN.  However, only three collared-doves were counted during the 2004 CBC in Smithville, and none could be found during count day in 2005 (though the species was found during count week); five were counted during the 2006 and 2007 CBCs.

    Despite being focused on Center Hill Lake, this CBC produced a low number of duck species, especially in 2003; however, numbers of duck species found within the CBC circle increased in later years, and good numbers and diversity of piscivorous divers, including loons and grebes, have been found on the lake during all CBCs.

    Besides the open water of Center Hill Lake, another important habitat sampled by this CBC was the abundant cedar thickets found on the lower levels of the hillsides surrounding the lake.  These thickets support a diverse array of wintering passerines, including occasional species considered rare in winter in the Upper Cumberland Region.  In 2003 the Blue-headed Vireo found during count week in a cedar thicket within Edgar Evins State Park provided a good example of the unusual songbirds that sometimes inhabit the cedar thickets around Center Hill Lake and in other areas of the county during winter; in 2005 another Blue-head was found, this one on count day near a cedar thicket at the Appalachian Center for Crafts.

    Within the CBC circle in DeKalb County another habitat of importance is the agricultural/horticultural component.  The open fields associated with these habitats sustain populations of grassland-oriented species that are among the fastest declining in North America.  The American Pipits and Horned Larks found during the CBCs in 2003 and 2004 are indicators of the productivity of these habitats in the county.  The good numbers and diversity of raptors found on the count are in part attributable to these important open habitats as well.

    To see results of this CBC in the context of results from other Regional CBCs conducted during the same CBC seasons, click on one of the links below:

CDW = Carol D. Williams (cdenson@dtccom.net), the compiler of the DeKalb County CBC.

A Merlin photographed 30 December 2003 on Student's Home Rd., DeKalb Co., TN, during the DeKalb County CBC; photo Judy C. Fuson.

A leucistic American Robin was found and photographed on County House Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee, 26 December 2007; photo Judy C. Fuson. You may compare this robin with another leucistic robin found during the pooled data effort of the 2007 GBBC in Putnam County: http://iweb.tntech.edu/sstedman/GBBCUCR2007.htm

Cumulative Species List for All UCR CBCs