Photo by Krista-269/Pixabay.com • Common loons in summer breeding plumage are strikingly handsome birds that show much grace and agility in the water.

The 83rd consecutive Elizabethton Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Twenty-four observers participated in seven parties found a total of 73 species, plus an additional species found during count week.

Compiler Rick Knight noted that the annual survey benefitted from good weather with a temperature range from 23 to 66 degrees coupled with clear and calm conditions.
The species total is right on the recent 30-year average for this CBC. The all-time high for the Elizabethton CBC was 85 species in 2017.

The list:
Canada goose, 372; mallard, 81; redhead, 3; ring-necked duck, 17; greater scaup, 2; lesser scaup, 1; bufflehead, 109; and hooded merganser, 26.

Wild turkey, 18; pied-billed grebe, 10; horned grebe, 14; rock pigeon, 208; mourning dove, 72; killdeer, 3; Wilson’s snipe, 7; ring-billed gull, 3; common loon, 1; and great blue heron, 11.

Black vulture, 26; turkey vulture, 131; sharp-shinned hawk, 1; Cooper’s hawk, 2; bald eagle, 4; red-shouldered hawk, 1; red-tailed hawk, 14; Eastern screech owl, 5; and great horned owl, 2.

Photo by Bryan Stevens
A flock of Wild Turkeys make their way across a snowy field.

Belted kingfisher, 17; red-bellied woodpecker, 28; yellow-bellied sapsucker, 19; downy woodpecker, 15; hairy woodpecker, 4; Northern flicker, 27; pileated woodpecker, 15; American kestrel, 14; and Eastern phoebe, 13.

White-eyed vireo, 1; blue jay, 130; American crow, 343; common raven, 9; Carolina chickadee, 101; tufted titmouse, 66; ruby-crowned kinglet, 11; golden-crowned Kinglet, 24; and cedar waxwing, 18.

White-breasted nuthatch, 29; brown creeper, 1; Carolina wren, 74; and winter wren, 11.

Brown thrasher, 1; Northern mockingbird, 58; Eurasian starling, 1058; Eastern bluebird, 117; hermit thrush, 8; and American robin, 236.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A white-breasted nuthatch grabs a sunflower seed.

House sparrow, 28; house finch, 135; purple finch, 4; American goldfinch, 74; and pine siskin. The siskin was listed as a count week find. Birds seen within the same count circle but outside of the specific count day are noted as “count week” birds and still tallied with the species found on the actual count day.

Chipping sparrow, 1; field sparrow, 20; fox sparrow, 1; dark-eyed junco, 24; white-throated sparrow, 87; Savannah sparrow, 1; song sparrow, 83; Swamp Sparrow, 3; and
Eastern towhee, 14.

Eastern meadowlark, 67; common grackle, 1; pine warbler, 3; yellow-rumped warbler, 55; and Northern cardinal, 102.

Knight singled out the white-eyed vireo as a species worthy of elaboration. The vireo was seen in Hampton at the watershed trail among a stand of pines. It was the third instance for this species on this particular CBC; white-eyed vireos were also seen in 1997 and 2001.

Notable misses, according to Knight, included barred owl, red-breasted nuthatch and white-crowned sparrow.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male Northern cardinal visits a feeder on a snowy afternoon.