Central Node for UCR Foray in DeKalb County, Tennessee--May 23-26, 2008

The best form of breeding evidence for Cedar Waxwing observed during the 2008 UCR Foray in DeKalb County involved adults gathering or carrying nest material, a behavior captured here just a few days following the foray on Student's Home Rd., a now famous birding site in that county; photo Judy C. Fuson (29 May 2008).

 

The 2008 UCR Foray, conducted in DeKalb County 23-26 May 2008, was the first of its kind to take place in that county.  Thirteen participants observed 112 species of birds, 106 of these being local breeders and 6 migrants.  Results of this survey effort are provided below (Table 1).

    Observers taking part in this first-ever foray in DeKalb County are named below and their initials, as used later at the page with Raw Data (link at bottom of this page), are provided:

Douglas A. Downs—DAD

Marti C. Downs--MCD

Judy C. Fuson—JuF

Michael J. Hawkins—MJH

John Noel—JN

Edmund K. LeGrand—EKL

Michael P. O’Rourke—MPO

Stephen J. Stedman—SJS (co-coordinator and compiler)

Helga Thompson—HT

Winston A. Walden—WAW

Melinda Welton—MW

Carol D. Williams—CDW (co-coordinator)

Don Williams—DW

    The 2008 UCR Foray took place during the days just following the full moon (May 20), so there was plenty of opportunity to count nocturnal species, and ten of the forty blocks in the county were the subject of a night survey

    The general protocol for conducting a foray in the UCR, as well as the specific instructions for the 2008 DeKalb County Foray, may be consulted at pages accessible via these links:

    A map (Figure 1) showing major roadways and watercourses in DeKalb County is accessible via the following link:

    A physiographic map (Figure 2) of DeKalb County, showing the location of the USGS quadrangles that coincide with it, is accessible via the link below:

    To see a map (Figure 3) showing the 40 "blocks" (i.e., areas consisting of one-sixth of a USGS quadrangle) that were surveyed during the 2008 DeKalb County Foray or to access a page listing the names of the blocks and the observers who covered them, click on one of the links below:

   To see maps showing the distribution and abundance of the species recorded during the foray, click on the names of the species in the table below. To read an explanation of the way in which the data in the maps have been presented or to view the raw data from the 2008 DeKalb County Foray, click on the link for Raw Data near the bottom of this page.

    The focal species of the 2008 UCR Foray in DeKalb County were the Loggerhead Shrike and the Cerulean Warbler.  The shrike has a small and probably decreasing population in DeKalb County. Shrikes were detected in only two of the county's forty blocks, and each block where it was found was a block containing a previously known site for this species.  The warbler has a rather large county population that mostly inhabits the steep, wooded hillsides surrounding Center Hill Lake; this population of Ceruleans probably numbers 100-200 pairs, but getting a better handle on the size of the population was a task of this foray effort that did not come to complete fruition.

A Loggerhead Shrike photographed in DeKalb County, Tennessee, during 2003; photo Judy C. Fuson.

 

Table 1. Species Detected during the DeKalb County Foray 23-26 May 2008.  Species in italics are migrants; all other are deemed to be local breeders.  Breeding Categories and Codes: POS = Possible Breeder; PRB = Probable Breeder; CON = Confirmed Breeder.  X = Present; P = Pair; A = Agitated Behavior; C = Courtship/Copulation; DD = Distraction Display; CN = Adult Carrying Nest Material; NB = Adult Building Nest; UN = Used Nest; FY = Adult Carrying Food for Young; BG = Begging Young; FL = Fledged Young; FS = Fecal Sac Removed from Nest by Adult; ON = Adult on Nest Incubating/Tending Young; NE = Nest with Eggs; NY = Nest with Young.
Species Alpha Code (See Tables with Raw Data) Total Blocks where Recorded (of 40 Possible) Total Individuals Recorded during Day or Night "Counting Period" Highest Breeding Category and Code Detected
Canada Goose CAGO 9 46 POS--X
Wood Duck WODU 7 4 CON--FL
Mallard MALL 6 4 PRB--P
Wild Turkey WITU 8 8 CON--FL
Northern Bobwhite NOBO 22 60 CON--FL
Common Loon COLO 1 2 Migrant
Great Blue Heron GTBH 12 11 CON--ON
Green Heron GRHE 9 11 POS--X
Black Vulture BLVU 22 46 POS--X
Turkey Vulture TUVU 37 191 POS--X
Mississippi Kite MIKI 1 1 Migrant
Bald Eagle BAEA 1 0 CON--NY
Cooper's Hawk COHA 4 4 POS--X
Red-shouldered Hawk RSHA 8 10 POS--X
Broad-winged Hawk BWHA 10 16 POS--X
Red-tailed Hawk RTHA 14 14 POS--X
American Kestrel AMKE 11 16 PRB--P
Killdeer KILL 27 80 CON--FL
Spotted Sandpiper SPSA 1 0 Migrant
American Woodcock * AMWO 1 1 POS--X
Common Tern COTE 0 1 Migrant
Rock Pigeon ROPI 11 36 POS--X
Eurasian Collared-Dove ECDO 1 2 POS--X
Mourning Dove MODO 38 398 CON--ON
Yellow-billed Cuckoo YBCU 24 32 POS--X
Eastern Screech-Owl * EASO 2 2 POS--X
Great Horned Owl * GHOW 1 1 POS--X
Barred Owl * BDOW 7 6 POS--X
Common Nighthawk * CONI 3 5 POS--X
Chuck-will's-widow * CWWI 11 24 POS--X
Whip-poor-will * WPWI 3 7 POS--X
Chimney Swift CHSW 30 89 CON--CN
Ruby-throated Hummingbird RTHU 15 22 CON--CN
Belted Kingfisher BEKI 5 1 POS--X
Red-headed Woodpecker RHWO 6 5 POS--X
Red-bellied Woodpecker RBWO 37 127 CON--FL
Downy Woodpecker DOWO 16 11 CON--FL
Hairy Woodpecker HAWO 6 6 POS--X
Northern Flicker NOFL 13 13 POS--X
Pileated Woodpecker PIWO 25 46 POS--X
Eastern Wood-Pewee EAWP 39 189 POS--X
Acadian Flycatcher ACFL 28 151 POS--X
Eastern Phoebe EAPH 37 147 CON--ON
Great Crested Flycatcher GCFL 35 78 CON--CN
Eastern Kingbird EAKI 33 105 CON--FY
Loggerhead Shrike LOSH 2 3 CON--NY
White-eyed Vireo WEVI 38 234 POS--X
Yellow-throated Vireo YTVI 29 66 POS-X
Warbling Vireo WAVI 1 1 POS--X
Red-eyed Vireo REVI 37 562 POS--X
Blue Jay BLJA 35 115 CON--FY
American Crow AMCR 38 263 CON--FL
Horned Lark HOLA 1 0 POS--X
Purple Martin PUMA 14 132 CON--ON
Tree Swallow TRES 4 4 POS--X
N. Rough-winged Swallow NRWS 22 80 CON--ON
Cliff Swallow CLSW 11 295 CON--ON
Barn Swallow BARS 36 346 CON--NY
Carolina Chickadee CACH 33 90 CON--FL
Tufted Titmouse ETTI 38 223 POS--X
White-breasted Nuthatch WBNU 17 47 CON--UN
Carolina Wren CARW 39 282 CON--FL
House Wren HOWR 5 8 POS--X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher BGGN 36 227 CON--ON
Eastern Bluebird EABL 38 372 CON--FL
Wood Thrush WOTH 28 133 CON--FY
American Robin AMRO 35 318 CON--FL
Gray Catbird GRCA 13 23 POS--X
Northern Mockingbird NOMO 37 354 CON--FY
Brown Thrasher BRTH 30 88 CON--FY
European Starling EUST 34 1120 CON--NE
Cedar Waxwing CEDW 24 132 CON--CN
Blue-winged Warbler BWWA 11 29 CON--FY
Northern Parula NOPA 29 112 POS--X
Yellow Warbler YWAR 7 13 POS--X
Yellow-throated Warbler YTWA 21 62 PRB--P
Pine Warbler PIWA 3 3 POS--X
Prairie Warbler PRAW 34 106 POS--X
Blackpoll Warbler BLPW 1 0 Migrant
Cerulean Warbler CERW 15 37 PRB--T
Black-and-white Warbler BAWW 5 8 POS--X
American Redstart AMRE 8 14 POS--X
Prothonotary Warbler PROW 4 3 CON--FS
Worm-eating Warbler WEWA 6 13 POS--X
Ovenbird OVEN 10 31 POS--X
Louisiana Waterthrush LOWA 12 23 CON--FY
Kentucky Warbler KEWA 23 60 POS--X
Connecticut Warbler CONW 1 1 Migrant
Common Yellowthroat COYE 39 330 POS--X
Hooded Warbler HOWA 21 58 POS--X
Yellow-breasted Chat YBCH 37 186 CON--FY
Summer Tanager SUTA 38 139 POS--X
Scarlet Tanager SCTA 19 36 POS--X
Eastern Towhee EATO 40 168 POS--X
Chipping Sparrow CHSP 38 293 CON--NY
Field Sparrow FISP 40 391 CON--BG
Grasshopper Sparrow GRSP 9 31 POS--X
Henslow's Sparrow HESP 4 5 POS--X
Song Sparrow SOSP 28 164 POS--X
Northern Cardinal NOCA 40 370 CON--FY
Blue Grosbeak BLGR 29 89 CON--CN
Indigo Bunting INBU 40 854 CON--FY
Dickcissel DICK 6 54 CON--CN
Red-winged Blackbird RWBL 31 234 PRB--P
Eastern Meadowlark EAME 33 385 CON--FY
Common Grackle COGR 32 224 CON--FY
Brown-headed Cowbird BHCO 38 150 CON--FL
Orchard Oriole OROR 27 90 PRB--P
Baltimore Oriole BAOR 1 0 POS--X
House Finch HOFI 15 30 CON--FY
American Goldfinch AMGO 37 147 PRB--P
House Sparrow HOSP 24 157 CON--ON
Total 9128
Total Hours:Minutes of Effort 116:31
Total Migrant Species 6
Total Breeding Species 106
     Possible Breeders 52
     Probable Breeders 7
     Confirmed Breeders 47
Total Species Observed 112

* Data reflect results from 10 night counting periods.

 

DeKalb County Foray Links: