New Caledonian crow with his tool. Courtesy Science Daily.

The 2017 Great Backyard Bird Count  in February just set new records:  it’s the best count ever conducted since the GBBC began in 1998. Here are the stats—as of March 3 — for the worldwide competition, held every year by the Audubon Society and Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology:

• Total species: 5,940 (2016 final total: 5,689)
• Total checklists: 173,826 (2016 final total: 162,052)
• Estimated participants: 214,018 (2016 final total estimate: 163,763)

Red-tailed hawk on my rooftop keeps a lookout at my bird feeders (Bobbie Faul-Zeitler, CC 3.0)

Number of Species Counted

The undisputed winner for number of species reported is Colombia with a whopping 955, followed by India with 801, and Mexico with 774 species.

Greater Sage-Grouse Courtesy of Audubon.org

Worldwide Performances This Year

The Top 10 Countries ranked by number of checklists submitted with new records marked with an asterisk:

Our thanks to Ella Clemm (Kentucky) for this clever shot

How Did the States Do ?

Audubon Vice President Gary Langham points out, “ the GBBC is an instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations that can contribute to our understanding of how a changing climate is affecting birds.”