2016 Backyard Bird Race - Final Tally

This is the the final tally of the 2016 Backyard Bird Race.

The Daily Kos Backyard Science Yardbird Race is a birding competition where, over the course of one year, participants strive to identify the most bird species - by sight and/or by sound - from the confines of their yards.

The final Official Tally of the 2016 Backyard Science Yardbird Race is now open.

Everyone is welcome - new birders, experienced birders, and anyone in between. We're a very supportive group and will help as much as we can. If you're not sure about an ID, just do your best to give us a good written description. Images, even mediocre ones, can be a great help, too. There are a number of categories, so that people who live in urban centers don't have to compete against others who have a lot of open space or waterfront views.

All of the race details and fine print can be found way down at the end of this very long missive.

The Categories:

~Small Town ~College Campus ~Urban apartment or condo ~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse) ~Urban detached ~Suburban ~Rural <5 acres ~Rural >5 acres ~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...) ~Classroom Project ~(new) Mobile

Here’s where we stand after the July tally. Please let me know if I’ve missed anyone or if anything needs correcting. The number in parentheses after each participant’s name refers to their personal record over the past years.

MOBILE

1. Lenny Flank (new) … On the Road … 27

SMALL TOWN

1. indubitably  (new) ... Ozark footills ... 19

2. grapevines (new) … NW MN … 8

APARTMENT OR CONDO

1(tie). owktree (new) … Philadelphia PA … 19

1(tie). aaroninsandiego (22) ... San Diego CA ... 19

3. Benny Toothpick (53) ... Hamilton, NY... 17

RURAL <5ACRES

1. besame (45) … NW Sierras CA … 53

2. Attack Gardener (49) ... Saratoga County NY ... 42

3. PHScott  (48) ... west of Tallahassee ... 41

4. wordwraith (new) … Central NC ...35

5. birdfeeder (40) ... Shutesbury MA ... 32

6. marleycat (new) … N Baltimore City MD … 21

RURAL >5ACRES

1. myboo (new) … Western WA … 30

URBAN DETACHED

1. bwren (55) ... Seattle WA ... 38

2. billybush (35) ... Omaha NE ... 17

SUBURBAN

1. profewalt (25) … South NJ … 41 

2. hilltopper (new) … Oakland CA … 41

2. enhydra lutris (47) ... Castro Valley NOCA ... 39

3. LICenter (51) ... Suffolk County, LI ... 36

4. pzina (new) ...16

5. 6412093 (30) ... NW Oregon ... 13

6. OldJackPine (new) … S WI … 12

WATERFRONT

1. matching mole (80) ... Tallahassee FL ... 63

2. nom de plume (66) ... Upper Kitsap Peninsula WA ... 58

3. OceanDiver (74) ... Lopez IS WA ... 57

4. Milly Watt (75) ... Olympic Peninsula WA ... 55

5. Dr. Arcadia (88) ... thumb of MI ... 24

Tally Updates. Here's what you need to report - Your location, as close as you are comfortable revealing. Your yard category. Number of species seen so far, including your other tallies if you have any. List of birds seen, with new birds at the top. Any comments you have about your sightings.

Details and fine print.

You'll be listing the number of bird species that you see from the confines of your yard between January 1 and December 31, 2016. You can list a bird if you see or hear it while you are somewhere in your yard. Your "yard" includes the property on which your domicile is located, and includes your living quarters, so you can list the Killdeer that wakes you at 2am, but you can't list the Smew you think you see in your neighbor's side yard while driving home if you cannot see it from any place in your yard after you get out of your car. You can, however, walk around to your neighbor's yard to visually ID a bird that you have initially glimpsed or heard from the confines of your own yard.  Pet birds and birds kept for hunting don't count, but domestic chickens, ducks, peafowl, guinea hens, geese etc are fair game. With the exception of utilizing recorded bird calls, which is strongly discouraged, there are no rules about making your yard more bird-attractive than the competition's. There are also no rules about ladders and fences.

Once again, here are the yard categories:

~Small Town ~College Campus ~Urban apartment or condo ~Urban attached (townhouse, rowhouse) ~Urban detached ~Suburban ~Rural <5 acres ~Rural >5 acres ~Waterfront (trumps any of the above...) ~Classroom Project ~ New) Mobile

Please let us know if your back yard doesn't seem to fit in any of these categories. We'll work out a new one for you.