Christmas (Card) Bird Count (2006) It is three days after Christmas and time to compile my annual list of bird species identified on Christmas cards. The species count this year is 21, but with 3 (a penguin, a dove and a sparrow) too indistinct to completely identify. Last year, I found only 16 species on my cards. European Robin and Northern Cardinal lead the count: these are archetypal seasonal species and were found primarily on cards from European and North American addresses, respectively. *Spheniscidae (Penguins) Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri 2 Poorly-drawn penguin Spheniscus indistinctus 12 *Anatidae (Swans, Geese & Ducks) Canada Goose Branta canadensis 1 *Odontophoridae (New World Quails) Mountain Quail Oreortyx pictus 2 *Columbidae (Pigeons & Doves) Generic dove Columba mysteriosus 1 *Psittacidae (Parrots) Australian King-Parrot Alisterus scapularis 2 Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus 4 *Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris 1 *Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae 1 *Corvidae (Crows, Jays & Allies) Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata 2 *Paridae (Tits & Chickadees) Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus 3 Great Tit Parus major 1 *Troglodytidae (Wrens) Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus 1 *Turdidae (Thrushes) (European) Robin Erithacus rubecula 16 (European) Blackbird Turdus merula 2 *Passeridae (Old World Sparrows) Vague sparrow Passer obscurus 6 *Fringillidae (Finches) Purple Finch Carpodactus purpureus 1 Evening Grosbeak Coccothraustes vespertinus 1 *Cardinalidae (Cardinals, Grosbeaks & Allies) Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis 14 *Parulidae (New World Warblers) Blackburnian Warbler Dendroica fusca 1 *Icteridae (Icterids) Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula 1 Good birding in 2007. John A. ==================================================================== John Arnfield | Church Stretton, Shropshire, UK | [log in to unmask] http://www.geography.ohio-state.edu/faculty/arnfield ==================================================================== ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]