RESULTS OF THE 2000 YARDLIST CHALLENGE

The winners in the 2000 Yardlist Challenge are, of course, the birds themselves. Results were sent in from thirteen yards; eleven in Kootenai County, and one each from Bonner and Shoshone Counties. A total of 134 species were seen (or heard), with four species reported from all thirteen yards: Northern Flicker, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco and Evening Grosbeak. The next most commonly reported species are Black-capped Chickadee and Pine Siskin (from twelve yards), followed by Rufous Hummingbird, White-crowned Sparrow and House Finch from eleven yards. Thirty-four of the species, or 25%, were reported from only a single yard.

Participants were divided into four categories: urban, suburban, rural and waterview. The boundaries between these categories are a bit blurry. The yards with water views clearly have the edge in species diversity.

Participants in the urban category are Lynn Sheridan (29 species total), Patricia Sweet (24) and Judy & Phil Waring (25). The urbanites complained about neighborhood dog and cat populations, but still managed to turn up Blue Jay (Lynn), White-throated Sparrow (Patricia) and Brewer’s Blackbird (Judy & Phil).

The suburban participants are Janet Callen (37 species) and Theresa Potts (45) with some surprising warbler sightings. Janet had a Common Yellowthroat, and Theresa found a Wilson’s Warbler.

Three far-flung participants in the rural category turned up a combined total of 59 species - Ken Eppler (37 species), Dottie Jones (42) and Janet Wilcox (12). Ken saw both Western and Mountain Bluebirds, Dottie spotted a Northern Shrike, and Janet watched Picoides woodpeckers (Downy or Hairy) bathe in her sprinklers.

The water view category is the largest, with five participants – Wendy Aeschlimann (68 total species), Kris Buchler (63), Lisa Hardy (65), Wyatt Luce (76) and Shirley Sturts (47). Wendy had thirteen species of duck, Kris had six warbler species, Wyatt saw a Bald Eagle tussling with an Osprey, and Shirley racked up four Galliformes.

So, a big thank you to all the participants! And to all of you backyard birders who were too shy or too disorganized to submit a list, we hope you are motivated to participate in the second annual Yardlist Competition. Maybe 2001 will be the year we have cash prizes! So start counting...

Same as last year – list any species that you can see or hear while you are in your yard, during the calendar year 2001. You can use the 2000 results table below as a checklist for 2001.

The results are reported here in two different tables. Each table contains all the reports, but the first table is presented in AOU checklist order, and the second table is presented by order of most commonly reported.