Pennsylvania Birdlists Summary 2019
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Compiled by Andy Keister
At the conclusion of 2019, the number of birders who have reported PA Life Lists of 300 species or greater remains at 93. The number of birders with PA Life Lists of 350 species or greater also remains unchanged at 27. As last reported in 2018, Devich Farbotnik has recorded 396. Other birders have eBird lists of over 400 species but have not reported their numbers to me. The total number of birders with unassisted Life Lists of 300 species or greater increased to 12.
For 2019, the year’s high Annual List was reported by Zach Millen with 282 species followed by Andy Keister with 258 species. Similar to the life lists, several individuals recorded more species through eBird in 2019 but did not report those numbers to me for inclusion within this report.
County lifelisters who have recorded the most species in their respective counties and have report new species for 2019 include Geoff Malosh who has recorded 283 species for Allegheny County, David Hawk who has recorded 281 species in Carbon County, Andy Keister who has recorded 218 species in Columbia County, Al Guarente who reached the milestone of 300 species in Delaware County, David Kyler who has recorded 277 species in Huntingdon County, Fritz Brock who has recorded 281 species in Lehigh County, Bobby Brown who has recorded 264 species in Lycoming County, Greg Grove who has recorded 215 species in Mifflin County, Andy Keister who has recorded 238 species in Montour County, Arlene Koch who reached the milestone of 300 species in Northampton County, Andy Keister who recorded 243 species in Northumberland County and Dick Cleary who recorded 261 species in York County.
In annual county birding, Ryan Johnson set the new high record for Wayne County at 125 species. Thanks to Chad Kauffman’s efforts to bird Snyder County, the first reports of greater than 100 species in a year included Andy Keister with 186 species, Waylon Martin with 178 species and Chad Kauffman with 176 species. Other birders had similar or higher numbers in Snyder County in 2019 but did not report their lists for this report.
A total of 34 individuals submitted list information or Bird of the Year votes for 2019. They include: David Kyler, Trudy Kyler, Bruce Carl, Jeffrey Hall, Greg Grove, Bobby Brown, Dave DeReamus, Zach Millen, Al Guarente, Wayne Laubscher, Deb Grove, Michael David, Chuck Berthoud, Ryan Tomazin, Geoff Malosh, John Flannigan, Roy Ickes, Dean Newhouse, Chad Kauffman, John Snarey, Fritz Brock, Ronald Leberman, Richard Nugent, Kurt Schwarz, Andy Keister, David Hauk, Mark Vass, Arlene Koch, Carol Hildebrand, Waylon Martin, Carl Garner, Thomas Reeves, Dick Cleary and Ryan Johnson. This is a substantial decrease from last year and I hope to put more effort into soliciting reports from birders in 2020.
The Bird of the Year 2019
A total of 13 birders voted for 17 different species as Bird of the Year for 2019. A total of three points were awarded for a first place vote, two points were awarded for a second place vote and one point was awarded for a third place vote. Competition was tight this year and Snail Kite (11 points) edged out Varied Thrush (10 points) and Black-bellied Whistling Duck (8 points) as Bird of the Year. Voting is always impacted by several factors. Snail Kite seemed the obvious choice however the bird was a one-day wonder seen by few people and wasn’t as heavily publicized as some of the other rare birds this year. The remaining votes included Green-tailed Towhee (6 points), Western Meadowlark (5 points), Brown Booby (4 points), Pacific Loon (4 points), Anna’s Hummingbird (4 points), Hudsonian Godwit (3 points), Loggerhead Shrike (3 points), Long-eared Owl (3 points), Yellow-crowned Night Heron (3 points), Evening Grosbeak (2 points), Common Raven (2 points) Ash-throated Flycatcher (1 point), Prothonotary Warbler (1 point) and Long-tailed Duck (1 point).
Comments About 2019 Birding in PA
(Bird of the Year, New PA Life List Species and other comments)
Bobby Brown
New PA Life List Species: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Red Knot, Short-billed Dowitcher, Mississippi Kite, Little Blue Heron, American Golden-Plover, Franklin’s Gull, Harlequin Duck
Bruce Carl
Bird of the Year: Snail Kite, Brown Booby, Western Meadowlark
Michael David
Bird of the Year: Varied Thrush, Western Meadowlark, Ash-throated Flycatcher
Dave DeReamus
Bird of the Year: Snail Kite, Brown Booby, Varied Thrush
John Flannigan
Bird of the Year: Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Snail Kite, Green-tailed Towhee
Al Guarente
Bird of the Year: Hudsonian Godwit, Varied Thrush, Green-tailed Towhee
New PA Life List Species: Gull-billed Tern
During the course of 2019 I was able to add 2 new birds in Delaware County, which were Gull-billed Tern and Hudsonian Godwit, which finally brought my county total to 300 species.
David Hauk
Bird of the Year: Pacific Loon
Carol Hildebrand
Bird of the Year: Loggerhead Shrike, Black-bellied Whistling Duck
New PA Life List Species: Loggerhead Shrike, Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Ryan Johnson
Bird of the Year: Long-eared Owl, Evening Grosbeak, Long-tailed Duck
New PA Life List Species: Cackling Goose, Northern Shoveler, Greater Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Horned Grebe, Black-billed Cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Virginia Rail, Semipalmated Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Bonaparte’s Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Golden Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Long-eared Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Olive-sided Flycatcher, American Pipit, Evening Grosbeak, Snow Bunting, Vesper Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Worm-eating Warbler and Tennessee Warbler.
2019 was another monumental year for me. Pike County has to be one of the best birding counties in the state. It produced my highest annual count to date this past year, including 18 of my newly acquired state lifers. My year highlight came from within Pike County when I had both Long-eared and Northern Saw-whet Owls in a single night. Also beaten this year were my annual counts from the previous years for Wayne and Lackawanna Counties. I look forward to 2020 and the challenge it will bring in topping what may be my most memorable birding year in my entire Pennsylvania birding career.
Chad Kauffman
Bird of the Year: Varied Thrush, Western Meadowlark, Pacific Loon
Wayne Laubscher
Bird of the Year: Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Waylon Martin
New PA Life List Species: Short-eared Owl, Eastern Whip-poor-will.
The Short-eared Owl was seen hunting in our neighbor’s fields on 11/25. On 2/26, I saw from 9,000 to 10,000 Snow Geese flying over our farm.
Zach Millen
Bird of the Year: Snail Kite, Green-tailed Towhee, Anna’s Hummingbird
New PA life birds were too many to list, but my favorite by far was the Sabine’s Gull.
Dean Newhouse
Bird of the Year: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Common Raven, Prothonotary Warbler
Kurt Schwarz
Bird of the Year: Anna’s Hummingbird, Green-tailed Towhee, Varied Thrush
New PA Life List Species: Black-bellied Whistling Duck, King Rail, White-winged Scoter, Nelson’s Sparrow, Anna’s Hummingbird, Green-tailed Towhee, Varied Thrush, American Bittern
