[cobirds] Rio Blanco Co. BBS Summary

This was my fifth (5^th) year running a couple of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes primarily in Rio Blanco County, Colorado.  One of these was my Mom’s back in the day – Yellowjacket Pass – so has been fun to retrace her steps and add contemporary data to the pool.  These routes transect an interesting cross section of classic West Slope habitat, so bird variety is good (92 species total during surveys + 3 additional while scouting).  I missed sending out a summary last year (2024), so to refresh readers, here is a brief description of each.  The Angora Route is located east of Rangley and begins in short pinyon/juniper/sagebrush stands then gradually climbs to higher elevation with groves of large pinyon/juniper and patches of serviceberry/mountain mahogany brushy hillsides.  This route does dip through the White River valley with some wetlands and agriculture fields for variety.  The Yellowjacket Pass route starts near Meeker in sagebrush and agriculture dominated bottoms, but then climbs up over Yellowjacket Pass through cottonwood and willow lined creek bottoms (including a good sized pond and marsh) with serviceberry/Gambel’s oak hillsides before dropping back down into more sage and ag fields.  Habitat conditions were good this year, though did notice a difference between Angora to the west being slightly dryer than expected, but the higher elevation Yellowjacket route to the east seemingly wetter than average.  This said, both routes do seem back to normal after years of very dry conditions.

 

As for the surveys themselves, the results mirrored the apparent dichotomy in spring precipitation.  Angora was fairly quiet with total individuals noted (392) being below the long range average (445) and well below my five year average (504).  Yellowjacket on the other hand was pretty busy with a record number of individuals (890) being recorded; even netting out a large flock (75) of likely post breeding blackbirds, still well above the long range average (577).  Within these gross numbers, a couple of trends were noted.  The expansions of GREY CATBIRD, LESSER GOLDFINCH, and SPOTTED TOWHEE is continuing with record or near record numbers of each.  The only species which was noticeably in low numbers on both routes was BREWER’S SPARROW, though VESPERs were also well below average at Angora.  Summary counts for both routes below.

 

In terms of “fun” ones, a completely unexpected adult male LARK BUNTING was a BBS first for either route at Yellowjacket.  A NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD was a surprise at Angora, and during scouting, had DUSKY GROUSE at both Angora (first ever for this route) and Yellowjacket, and a COMMON POORWILL on the way back from scouting Angora.

 

Running BBS routes can be tiring, but always fun with interesting encounters outside the important data collection – found a set of fresh cougar tracks (female and two cubs?!?) and watched a good sized herd (50+) of cow elk in the midst of their calving season in a large hay field with a few fresh newborns.  Give David Suddjian a nudge and pick up a route or two for yourself next year, it can be very rewarding.  Please let me know separately if you have any questions or would like more information.

 

Cheers,

Doug

Currently Coeur d’Alene, ID

 

Yellowjacket Pass & Angora BBS
2025 Summery Results
	Angora	Yellowjacket
Species	6/29/2025	6/30/2025
Canada Goose	3
Cinnamon Teal		4
Gadwall		1
Mallard		8
Green-winged Teal		4
Eurasian Collared-Dove		3
Mourning Dove	13	11
Common Nighthawk	1
White-throated Swift		6
Black-chinned Hummingbird	3
Broad-tailed Hummingbird		4
Sora		1
American Coot		6
Sandhill Crane		1
Killdeer		5
Wilson's Snipe		1
Great Blue Heron		2
Turkey Vulture		7
Golden Eagle		2
Northern Harrier	1
Bald Eagle		1
Red-tailed Hawk	1	7
Downy Woodpecker		1
Northern Flicker - "Red-shafted"	10	9
American Kestrel	1	4
Western Wood-Pewee		1
Gray Flycatcher	7
Dusky Flycatcher	2	2
Western Flycatcher		4
Say's Phoebe	1	3
Ash-throated Flycatcher	9
Western Kingbird	4	14
Eastern Kingbird
Gray Vireo	2
Plumbeous Vireo	3	1
Warbling Vireo		6
Pinyon Jay	9
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay	3	1
Black-billed Magpie	8	66
Clark's Nutcracker	3
American Crow		63
Common Raven	5	11
Mountain Chickadee	3
Juniper Titmouse	6
Northern Rough-winged Swallow		10
Tree Swallow		9
Violet-green Swallow		7
Barn Swallow	6	11
Cliff Swallow	25	22
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	24	1
Rock Wren	8	1
Canyon Wren	1
Northern House Wren	1	10
Bewick's Wren	4
European Starling		8
Gray Catbird		13
Sage Thrasher		6
Northern Mockingbird	1
Mountain Bluebird	27	20
Hermit Thrush	2
American Robin	12	54
House Sparrow		4
House Finch	19	1
Cassin's Finch	1
Pine Siskin	3
Lesser Goldfinch	3	9
American Goldfinch		9
Chipping Sparrow	9	2
Brewer's Sparrow	6	8
Lark Sparrow	24
Lark Bunting		1
Vesper Sparrow	8	37
Song Sparrow	1	19
Green-tailed Towhee	20	45
Spotted Towhee	46	42
Yellow-breasted Chat	1
Yellow-headed Blackbird		1
Western Meadowlark	6	16
Bullock's Oriole	1	7
Red-winged Blackbird	8	137
Brown-headed Cowbird	2	26
Brewer's Blackbird	1	33
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	7
Virginia's Warbler	3	10
MacGillivray's Warbler	7	6
Common Yellowthroat	3
Yellow Warbler	1	31
Black-throated Gray Warbler	7
Western Tanager	1	1
Black-headed Grosbeak		4
Lazuli Bunting		2
Total Species	58	69
Total Individuals	392	890