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MARION
AUDUBON SOCIETY

A Chapter of National Audubon Society

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Marion Co.Bird
Checklist & Photos

A Warm Welcome to Join Us

Experience the diverse natural resources and scenic environment of North Central Florida's
Marion County with Marion Audubon Society

Marion Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Tax deductable donations and will bequests are welcome.

Great Backyard Bird Count
Monday Feb 18th, 8:30 AM and 1:00 PM

Marion Audubon Society is hosting the Great Backyard Bird Count at Silver Springs State Park. Meet at the main entrance just inside the ticket booth area. Great for families and people of all ages. Bring binoculars if you have them, sturdy walking shoes and water. This event is free to the public!

Marion Audubon Society is promoting the national great backyard bird count in Marion County once again this year. Given here is a PDF giving the results for the great backyard bird count in Marion County in February 2018. February 2018 GBY Bird Count results"

About the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Every February, count for as little as 15 minutes in your own backyard to help expand our understanding of birds.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org . Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.

Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Last year, more than 160,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.

The 21st annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 15, through Monday, February 18, 2019. Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources.

"This count is so fun because anyone can take part—we all learn and watch birds together—whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher. I like to invite new birders to join me and share the experience. Get involved, invite your friends, and see how your favorite spot stacks up." -Gary Langham, Chief Scientist

Bird populations are always shifting and changing. For example, 2014 GBBC data highlighted a large irruption of Snowy Owls across the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes areas of the United States. The data also showed the effects that warm weather patterns have had on bird movement around the country. For more on the results of the latest GBBC, take a look at the GBBC Summary, and be sure to check out some of the images in the 2017 GBBC Photo Contest Gallery.

On the program website participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during and after the count. Be sure to check out the Explore a Region tool to get an idea of what you can expect to see in your area during the next GBBC.

For questions and comments, please contact the National Audubon Society or Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
National Audubon Society. e-mail: [email protected]

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Inside the US: (800) 843-2473, Outside the US: (607) 254-2473)
e-mail: [email protected]

The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by generous support from Wild Birds Unlimited.

Marion Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count
article is in the Ocala star Banner.

Click on this link to view
Christmas Bird Count article

Click here for the final tabulation of the 2018 Christmas Bird Count
CBC 2018 final report

Special shout out to Judy Greenberg, chair, Larry Sutton, tabulator,
and the 13 area leaders and all of their supporting birders.

Feel free to pass this on to the other organizations that assisted us.

Audubon Florida Jay Watch Program

Audubon Florida’s Jay Watch Report is available! Your efforts made a difference, check out what the program accomplished last year. A huge thank you to everyone that braved Florida’s summer heat to collect the invaluable data that makes these reports possible!

SAVE THE DATE!
The Marion County 2019 Jay Watch Training will be held May 18th. Additional details will be sent out closer to the training. You can find out more about Jay Watch here.

Audubon Florida coordinates the Jay Watch citizen science program statewide. We train and support volunteers to conduct scientific surveys that measure annual nesting success and count the total number of Florida Scrub-Jays at more than 46 sites in 19 counties.

The success of the Jay Watch program, and the program’s contributions to the recovery of Florida Scrub-Jays, depends upon dedicated volunteer citizen scientists like you, your family, and your friends.

Remarkably, in just 2017 alone, 267 volunteers invested over 2,600 hours sharpening their skills in onsite trainings and performing field surveys across the state.

Florida Scrub-Jays need bare sand patches in which to bury acorns, their winter food supply. Florida Scrub-Jays: Nowhere Else on Earth

The Florida Scrub-Jay is our state’s only endemic bird species, found nowhere else in the world. It was listed as federally Threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act in 1987, largely due to loss of its native scrub habitat and decades of fire suppression that allowed the scrub to become overgrown and unsuitable for Scrub-Jays. While mowing of too-tall oak scrub can open bare sand patches needed by the jays for predator detection and for caching acorns, fire is still needed to remove debris left on the ground after mowing. And some of the rarer scrub plants require fire to set seed and reproduce.

Just how threatened are Florida Scrub-Jays?
The state’s population of Florida Scrub-Jays is estimated to have declined by 90% since the early 1800s. Between 1993 and 2010 our state’s Scrub-Jay population declined another 26%, mostly on public lands where they are generally better protected.

What are you waiting for? Get Involved! Click here! Jay Watch Program

Hot Off the Press - MAS "Scrub Jay" Newsletter
April 2019 Edition

Click here for all the latest information about:
MAS April "Scrub Jay" Newsletter
* Monthly Nature Walks by Carolyn Retey
* MAS's Citizen Science program
* Regular Monthly Programs
* Conservation Festivals and Events
and much more
(Photo by Holly Yocum)

Results of Recent Bird Counts

NOTICE: All information related to the recent bird counts can be found
by clicking here Recent Bird Counts

The photos below were taken by Leroy Simon on a recent Marion Audubon bird walk
at Tuscawilla Park, Ocala, FL.
The birds are (left to right) kestrel, wood duck, muscovie duck, red-tailed hawk with squirrel.

NOTE: Click on an image to view a larger version.

Olympic BirdFest 2019
Come Bird With Us
Sequim, Washington, April 12-14, 2019

(Click here for an enlarged version of the poster at left) Birdfest poster

Grab your binoculars and join the 16th annual Olympic BirdFest 2019 celebration at the Dungeness River Audubon Center, April 12-14, 2019.

The stage is set…quiet bays and estuaries, sandy beaches, a five-mile-long sand spit, and a protected island bird sanctuary on the Strait of Juan de Fuca; wetlands, tide pools, rainforests, and lush river valleys. The players are ready … Marbled Murrelets, Rhinoceros Auklets, Harlequin Ducks, Black Oystercatchers, Peregrine Falcons, Barred and Pygmy Owls will be sporting their finest spring plumage for this celebration. Enjoy guided birding trips, boat tour, and a gala banquet. Our featured speaker this year, John Marzluff, is a professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington and a noted author.

Come bird with us and experience with others the spectacular landscapes of the Olympic Peninsula …you just might go home with a new bird for your life list!

Check out the offerings by going online 2019 Olympic Birdfest

Precede your BirdFest weekend with a three-day, two night birding cruise of the spectacular San Juan Islands on April 9-11, 2019. Visit San Juan and Sucia Islands, and more. Stay at the historic Roche Harbor Resort.

Extend your Birdfest weekend with the Neah Bay post-trip, April 14-16, 2019: two and one-half days exploring northwest coastal Washington, a region rarely seen by birders.

Contact us by phone, at 360-681-4076
E-mail us at [email protected]
Or write to us at:
Dungeness River Audubon Center, P.O. Box 2450, Sequim, WA 98382

Check out National Audubon Society's
"Plants For Birds" Campaign

Native plants are the foundation of the ecosystem that our beautiful birds depend on—they provide food, shelter, and places for birds to nest. Native plants also help birds weather the effects of climate change, and they reduce pollution and water use, promoting more healthy habitats for birds. That’s why hundreds of Audubon chapters promote the use of native plants and run native plant programs.

Together, we want to take that message to even more people, and that’s what the Plants For Birds campaign is all about. We’ve set an initial goal of engaging 50,000 people to plant 1,000,000 new native plants.

What will you find on the website? Here’s a short list:
* A 60-second video and articles about why native plants are important for birds
* A first-of-its-kind searchable database that highlights garden-friendly native plants for
specific ZIP codes (and the bird groups that depend on those plants)
* Local Audubon chapters and Audubon centers with native plant services
* Native plant nurseries and suppliers
* Ways to sign up, get involved, and learn more

Get Involved

Mark Your Calendar

The Nature Walk & Program Schedule is Posted at the Calendar of Events Button.
Click here: Calendar of Events

Florida is a great place for birding because of the year-round presence of a vast number of species.
Learn More about Birds & Birding in Florida & Marion County at these Links:
Links
Birding Sites
Marion County Bird Checklist