Science » Birds

The figure below shows the percent occurrence of bird guilds encountered at the restoration site before and after dike removal. Monthly data is based upon one bird survey. The species seen during each survey are listed in the table below.

Bird foraging guild graph
Figure 1. Cumulative percent of bird guilds detected during pre and post-dike removal surveys at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Enhanced freshwater wetland area is included.

Area bird counts are conducted every month at the site during high tide using binoculars and spotting scopes. The site is partitioned into 250 m UTM grids so that observers can reference the location in which birds are detected. Observers record grid #, bird species, number, behavior (i.e., foraging, roosting, calling, flyover, swimming) and habitat (i.e., mud flat, marsh plain, open water, aerial, upland or levee). Birds are grouped into foraging guilds for analyses and trends. Breeding birds or nests will be recorded if encountered. Bird species richness, density will be tracked over time and related to changes in sediment levels. The enhanced freshwater wetlands area are also included in these surveys.

Table 1. Bird species list for Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for pre and post-dike removal area bird surveys. Enhanced freshwater wetland area is included.

Click on highlighted species to access a graph of monthly survey data.

Common Name Sept. '09 (Pre-Restoration) Oct. '09 Nov. '09 Dec. '09 Jan. '10 Feb. '10 Mar. '10
American Bittern 5 1 1 2     1
American Coot         2 64 103
American Crow 60 57 7 15 21 15 2
American Goldfinch 80 38 8        
American Kestrel       1 1 1 1
American Pipit 15 5          
American Robin 11 48 10 31 2 22 7
American Wigeon 83 102 870 2212 308 304 171
Bald Eagle 4 10 13 31 34 12 10
Barn Swallow 25       2    
Belted Kingfisher 4 4 1 3 1 1 1
Bewick's Wren 4 2 4 1   1 1
Black-capped Chickadee 17 17 3 3 9 2  
Brown Creeper     1 3      
Bufflehead     1 28 51 41 42
Cackling Goose   1037 1502 268 59 619 1569
California Gull     2        
Canada Goose 194 290 96 350 75 577 280
Caspian Tern 15            
Cedar Waxwing 7 34 47        
Common Goldeneye       9 12 17 27
Common Merganser       1     4
Common Raven             2
Common Yellowthroat 14            
Cooper's Hawk 1 2 2 1      
Dabbling Duck             8
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon race)   8   3      
Double-crested Cormorant 11 12 5   3   1
Dowitcher       1      
Downy Woodpecker 1 2   1 3 1  
Dunlin     153 42     123
Eurasian Wigeon       4 1 3 3
European Starling 515 266 323 219 34 9 32
Fox Sparrow         2   1
Gadwall       8 19 8 17
Glaucous-winged Gull 17 5 4 17 74 14 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet   14 10 18 13 3 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1 9 12 3 10 26  
Goose Hybrid 1            
Great Blue Heron 32 14 15 23 59 37 52
Great Horned Owl     1       1
Greater White-fronted Goose   1 2        
Green Heron     1        
Green-winged Teal   359 1474 2444 107 18 68
Hairy Woodpecker 1            
Herring Gull   12          
Hooded Merganser 3 1 3   2 8  
Horned Grebe       1     2
House Finch   7 10 11      
House Sparrow   1          
Hybrid Glaucous-winged/Western Gull     1 1     1
Killdeer 2 12 1   1   2
Least Sandpiper 22     2      
Scaups       1     3
Lesser Yellowlegs             3
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 2       1  
Long-billed Dowitcher     7        
Mallard 339 277 667 264 446 283 122
Marsh Wren 1 10     7 10 1
Merlin     1        
Mew Gull   8 22 78 6 267  
Mourning Dove 1            
Northern Harrier 5 20 14 13   5 7
Northern Pintail   379 791 2218 187 87 83
Northern Shoveler   1 9 61 244 260 235
Northern Shrike     3   1   2
Nothern Flicker   2 2 1 1    
Orange-crowned Warbler 1            
Oregon Junco           5  
Osprey 1            
Peeps 1 10     55    
Peregrine Falcon     4 1 1    
Pied-billed Grebe   1          
Pileated Woodpecker 1            
Pine Siskin         4    
Purple Finch 16   20 3      
Red Crossbill           2  
Red-Breasted Merganser     2       3
Red-tailed Hawk 4 25 27 15 9 10 2
Red-winged Blackbird 34 106 71 33 3 9 3
Ring-billed Gull 19   7 17 19 14  
Ring-Necked Duck     2 3 15 17 31
Rock Pigeon 23   6 2 10 8 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   18 13 2 2 1  
Rufous Hummingbird             1
Savannah Sparrow 7            
Scaups           4  
Short-Eared Owl     1        
Song Sparrow 23 16 8 8 25 13 5
Spotted Towhee   5 1 1 2 4 1
Stellar's Jay 1            
Surf Scoter     7       1
Swainson's Thrush 1            
Tree Swallow     1     15 33
Vaux's Swift 9            
Violet-green Swallow 6            
Western Gull         3    
Western Meadowlark     6        
Western Sandpiper 110            
Western Scrub Jay 1            
Western Tanager 1            
White-crowned Sparrow 5 2         1
White-fronted  Goose 14            
Willow Flycatcher 4            
Wilson's Snipe   5   1      
Winter Wren   4 1 1 2    
Yellow Warbler 1