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Environment

Bird Count Results

Mild weather pushed up the numbers of some, but lowered others, during the annual Christmas Bird Count. 

Wildlife biologist and consultant, Kelly McKay from Hampton, says the count, from mid-December to early January, followed one of the coldest Novembers ever. And that affected the numbers of "semi-hardy species," including robins, sparrow, warblers, and thrushes.
These species used to leave the Quad Cities, and migrate south during the winter, but he thinks a warmer climate has shifted their winter range to the north. And that's what killed large numbers of them last year during a very frigid winter.

Mild weather meant more open water along the Mississippi and other rivers, so he counted fewer bald eagles. 

KELLYM2.MP3
Extreme cold a year ago meant no open water up north.

Each year, McKay and thousands of other people count birds across North America and submit their results to the National Audubon Society. It started the Christmas count 115 years ago. 

(with thanks to Steve Hager for the pictures taken during the count)

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.