(Two of the students were not com-

pletely faithful on this point.) They re-

corded species seen, the number of birds

seen, the location where they were seen,

any breeding/nesting behavior, and the

time of the observation. Some also re-

corded weather data.

All observers used Concordia's 8x36

Bushnell binoculars. In addition, most

used Peterson's (1980) fie ld guide if they

were uncertain of a species' identity.

The study site was subdivided into five

sections, one per student, because each

student would seldom have a block of

time long enough to do a complete 12-

square-block survey. Three students sur-

veyed two square blocks each, and two

surveyed three square blocks each. These

surveys began around mid-April and con-

tinued until 19 May.

The study site covered an area from

Hamline Avenue three blocks east to

Dunlap Street, and from Dayton Avenue

four blocks south to Ashland Avenue.

This is an older, established neighbor-

hood with mature trees and a variety of

shrubbery. In addition, the southwest

corner includes a small park and the bor-

der of a railroad track.

Results

During the study, 35 species and over

1,590 individual birds (obviously with

many individuals being counted several

times) were observed (see Table 1). Sev-

eral times, flocks or groups of birds were

seen in shrubbery where it was impos-

sible to get an accurate count. Those ad-

ditional birds are indicated in Table 1

with a plus sign. Not surprisingly, House

Sparrows were more common by nearly

a two-to-one margin over the number

two species, the Common Grackle. Also

of interest is the fact that our most recent

resident, the House Finch, was the sixth

most commonly seen species.

The majority of species seen in April

were very common birds such as Rock

Dove, American Crow, Black-capped

Chickadee, American Robin, European

Starling, Northern Cardinal, Dark-eyed

junco, Common Grackle, House Finch,

Table 1

Species

Number of Individuals

*American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Rock Dove

Mourning Dove

Chimney Swift

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Least Flycatcher

Blue Jay

American Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

Brown Creeper

House Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

*American Robin

Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

*European Starling

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Palm Warbler

*Northern Cardinal

American Tree Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Common Grackle

*House Finch

Purple Finch

American Goldfinch

*House Sparrow

13

2

63

25

65+

I

8

5

3

18

131+

38

I

3

6

3

I

!59

3

5

113+

3

10

3

34

6

5

2

6

10

226+

92+

I

2

524+

* indicates possible breeding species.

+ indicates more were present, but

could not be counted accurately.

and House Sparrow.

The common May species were much

the same, with the addition of Chimney

Swifts.

Discussion

Only four of the 35 species observed

are not, according to Hilton (1983), birds

of an urban or forest habitat. Those are

the American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon,

Vesper Sparrow, and Yellow Warbler. In

164 The Loon Volume 67