Via Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center:
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has changed our world. Sickness and hardship have negatively impacted families across the globe, but Carpenter Nature Center is working hard to try to bring some joy to people’s lives. Although this pandemic has created many obstacles, we are doing our best to respond with positivity and creativity.
The Safe-at-Home Youth Birding Competition proved to be a fun, educational, uplifting opportunity for dozens of families. In total, 48 teams participated in the competition.
The make-up of teams was diverse regarding age and geographic location. While most teams were located in Minnesota and Wisconsin, there were participants from Iowa, North Dakota, Missouri, Idaho, Florida, and California!
Many teams consisted of members of the same household, but some teams included participants from across town, across the state, and even across the country.
The Roneses Team consisted of cousins from Cottage Grove and Duluth, Minnesota:
“We saw a dove, chickadee, sparrow, robin, hawk, cardinal, crow, and a white crane! Evan’s cousin Tanner, who is in Duluth saw a Pigeon, Robin, Seagull, common grackle.”
– Melissa , The Roneses
The Loony Larks were from Minnesota and North Dakota. The Wandering Warblers consisted of children from Minnesota and Iowa.
Interstate teams resulted in list with birds that are not native to the St. Croix River Valley. For example, The Kostkas, some of which were bird watching in Idaho, saw California Quail, Bullock’s Orioles, and Black-billed Magpies.
Children of all ages AND adults enjoyed birding during our competition, and did their best to contribute however they could:
“My two-year-old basically spent the day shouting bird every time she saw one, and my five-year-old surprised me. She self-identified at least half of these without help, including a nuthatch.”
– Jay, Team Higgins
“My daughters bird watching consists of ‘mom/grandpa what’s that one?’ or ‘What was that? Did you hear it? It sounded like…(proceeds to make a noise that actually sounds nothing like what she just heard)’ She does this over and over and over all day long! She has a few bird books, so we try to get her to match it to a photo in her books since she can’t read. But she points out anything she sees flying.”
– Laura, Team Kostkas
“[The kids] ended up really enjoying it, and it got my husband and I really interested in what was going on in our yard too!”
– Emily – The Hudson Bluebirds
“My oldest definitely got some lifers yesterday. The youngest one did great, as suspected, with pointing out the ducks.”
– Steph , The Loony Loons
Even non-human family members assisted with locating and identifying birds!
“The German Shepherd alerts us to owls… All night…..”
– Alicia, Team Daffy Duck
Some participants were up with the sun to look for birds, while others stayed up into the night to try and find nocturnal species:
“The girls were up at 6 to watch the bird feeder. We saw a Chestnut-sided Warbler in our backyard for the first time!”
– Aleisha, The Pink Ponies and Hippoplatymoose
“The boys are pleading to stay up late to look for the Great Horned Owl, but mom is calling it. We had lots of fun messaging back and forth with our cousins all day.”
– Christine, The Bird Boys
“We sat out on the deck for a while tonight hoping to hear an owl, but no luck. We also did a lot of listening to different bird calls online to try to identify what we were hearing.”
– Kali, The Talented Taylor Talons
Some teams recorded dozens of species, while others saw only a handful of birds, but either way, everyone seemed to have great time!
“We didn’t have much luck today in our neighborhood for birding. But the kids had fun and kept their eyes glued to our feeders by our dining room windows during mealtimes. They spotted a few on our walk in the early afternoon too.”
– Theresa, The Bunny Family
And as you can see, we had so many creative team names, and the stories behind them were so fun and interesting!
“Our team name is the Crazy Cardinals, because we have three cardinals that have been trying to get in our windows for 3 days!”
– Kelly , The Crazy Cardinals
Participants had so much fun that many have found a passion for birding and are continuing to look and listen for our feathered friends:
“Thanks for putting this together. We honestly probably wouldn’t have bird watched otherwise. But our youngest especially really loved it, so I think we will do it again!”
– Penny, The Bored Bluebirds
“The kids needed a reason to spend some more time away from screens, so this is good for them. They are out- side again today, which is a good thing.”
– Kristene , The Sunny Day Bird Watchers
“Although we didn’t find as many birds as we would have wanted, the experience was such an amazing adventure and it was really really fun! We also learned so much about the common birds that live around here! This was such a fun event, and I’m so thankful we got to be a part of it! Thank you so much for taking your time to organize this.”
– Olivia, Chirp Off the Old Block
“[The kids] had an absolute blast! We’ve always been bird lovers but this really took it to the next level for them. I came down to the kitchen at 6 am and they were in the yard, sitting on a blanket by themselves. We appreciate you making this an extra fun thing to do during such a strange time!”
– Rhiana, The Halverson
Thank you to all who participated! We hope you had as much fun as we did “birding in place”. We may host another event like this in the future.
Keep an eye on CNC’s social media for more fun opportunities, and be sure to join us for next year’s Hastings Area Earth Day Birding Festival!
Results
Overall, we had 41 total teams submit their final species lists!
- First Place: Team Cali Kids, with 50 species
- Second Place: Team Crushin’ Crossbills, 37 species
- Tied for Third Place: Team Loony Larks & Team A Chirp Off the Old Block, 36 species each
Regional (MN/WI) highest number of species:
- Crushin’ Crossbills: 37 species
- Single Regional Household with Highest Number of Species: Team Sunny Day Birdwatchers, 30 species
16 to 18 years old
Place | City | Team Name | # Species |
1st | Rosemount & Edina, MN | Crushin Crossbills! | 37 |
2nd | Hudson, WI & Elysian, MN | A Chirp off the Old Block | 36 |
3rd | Garden City, MN | Farmyard Falcons | 29 |
4th | White Bear Lake, MN | Kelcher’s Hawks | 13 |
11 to 15 years old
Place | City | Team Name | # Species |
1st | Maplewood, MN | Sunny Day Birdwatchers | 30 |
2nd | Hastings & Cottage Grove MN, Jacksonville FL | The Tweethearts | 27 |
3rd | Rogers, MN | Halverson Hawks | 26 |
4th | River Falls, WI | Millenium Falcons | 17 |
4th | River Falls, WI | Pink Ponies & Hippoplatymoose | 17 |
4th | Prescott, WI | The Bored Bluebirds | 17 |
Spring Valley, WI | Daffy Duck | 14 | |
St. Paul, MN | Count Birdula | 10 | |
Hastings, MN | Beckenators | 10 |
10-years-old and under
Place | City | Team Name | # Species |
1st | San Jose, CA | Cali Kids | 50 |
2nd | Cottage Grove, MN & Moffit, ND | Loony Larks | 36 |
3rd | Farmington, MN & Robins, IA | Wandering Warblers | 26 |
4th | Woodbury, Cottage Grove, & Two Harbors MN | Bird Boys | 20 |
4th | Woodbury, MN | Rivard Red-tail Hawks | 20 |
River Falls, WI | Junco Johnsons | 19 | |
Hastings, MN | The Talented Taylor Talons | 19 | |
Hudson, WI | Cove Cardinals | 17 | |
Sauk Center & Shelvin, MN | Eagle Eye | 17 | |
Prescott, WI | Knox Family | 17 | |
St. Paul Park, MN & Boise, ID | Team Kostka | 15 | |
Eden Prairie, Burnsville, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, MN | Loony Loons | 14 | |
Hudson, WI | Kanye Nest | 14 | |
Hastings, MN | Crazy Cardinals | 12 | |
White Bear Lake, MN | Waxing Gibases | 12 | |
Corcoran, MN | S2 Chickadees | 11 | |
Hudson, WI | The Hudson Bluejays | 11 | |
Cottage Grove, MN | The Roneses | 11 | |
Mendota Heights, MN | Bluebill Browns | 10 | |
Stillwater, MN | Team Higgins | 10 | |
Roseville, MN | The Chickadees | 9 | |
Rosemount, MN | Klotz Cohort | 9 | |
Shoreview, MN | Roving Wrens | 9 | |
Hastings, MN | The Catbirds | 8 | |
Shoreview, MN | Bunny Family | 7 | |
Cannon Falls, MN | A-Team | 6 | |
Plymouth, MN | MonkeyPants | 5 | |
Team Messick in Honor of Don Messick | 3 |
Minnesota-Wisconsin cumulative list (98 species)
- Snow Goose
- Common Loon
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Canada Goose
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Mute Swan
- American White Pelican
- Eastern Bluebird
- Trumpeter Swan
- Great Blue Heron
- American Robin
- Tundra Swan
- Great Egret
- Gray Catbird
- Wood Duck
- Turkey Vulture
- European Starling
- Gadwall
- Osprey
- House Sparrow
- American Wigeon
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Purple Finch
- American Black Duck
- Cooper’s Hawk
- House Finch
- Mallard
- Broad-winged Hawk
- American Goldfinch
- Blue-winged Teal
- Red-tailed Hawk
- *Chestnut-sided Warbler (very early)
- Northern Shoveler
- Great Horned Owl
- Pine Warbler
- Northern Pintail
- Belted Kingfisher
- Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle)
- Canvasback Red-headed Woodpecker
- Eastern Towhee
- Lesser Scaup
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- American Tree Sparrow
- Common Goldeneye
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Chipping Sparrow
- Hooded Merganser
- Downy Woodpecker
- Field Sparrow
- Common Merganser
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Vesper Sparrow
- Ruddy Duck
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Lark Sparrow
- Ring-necked Pheasant
- Northern Flicker
- Fox Sparrow
- Wild Turkey
- American Kestrel
- Song Sparrow
- Rock Pigeon
- Peregrine Falcon
- Swamp Sparrow
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Eastern Phoebe
- White-throated Sparrow
- Mourning Dove
- Blue Jay
- White-crowned Sparrow
- *Chimney Swift (very early)
- American Crow
- Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored)
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Purple Martin
- *Scarlet Tanager (very early)
- American Coot Barn Swallow
- Northern Cardinal
- Sandhill Crane
- Tree Swallow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Killdeer
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Western Meadowlark
- Franklin’s Gull
- Tufted Titmouse
- Yellow-headed Blackbird
- Ring-billed Gull
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Common Grackle
- Herring Gull
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- House Wren
- Baltimore Oriole (early)
Teams saw a grand total of 134 SPECIES!
Some households reported birds that would have been uncommon for the time of year or for their area, and required extra documentation to confirm the sighting.
CNC Director Jennifer Vieth and volunteer judge Pete Nichols checked each list for accuracy!
Unverified birds from MN/WI:
- Northern Hawk Owl
- Spotted Towhee
- Yellow Warbler
- Least Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- Boreal Chickadee
- California Gull
- Northern Mockingbird
Missouri, not listed above (+1)
- Red-shouldered Hawk
Idaho not listed in MN/WI/ MO (+3)
- California Quail
- Bullock’s Oriole
- Black-billed Magpie
Florida not listed in MN/WI
- Black Vulture
- Anhinga
- Laughing Gull
- Carolina Chickadee
California, not listed in MN/WI/MO/ID/FL (+28)
- Lesser Goldfinch
- Blue Gray Gnatcatcher
- Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
- Northern Harrier
- California Scrub Jay
- Golden Eagle
- Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- Black Phoebe
- Bushtit
- Spotted Towhee
- California Towhee
- Raven
- Northern Mockingbird
- Acorn Woodpecker
- Bewick’s Wren
- Blue Gray Gnatcatcher
- Northern Harrier
- Golden Eagle
- Yellow-billed Magpie
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle)
- Western Bluebird
- Hermit Thrush
- Burrowing Owl
- Say’s Phoebe
- Black Vulture
- Savannah sparrow
- Anhinga
- Pine Siskin
- Oak Titmouse
- Golden-crowned Sparrow
- Carolina Chickadee
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Nuttall’s Woodpecker