Reflecting On An Unusual SF Christmas Bird Count
By David Assmann
The 2020 San Francisco Christmas Bird Count nearly didn’t happen due to the pandemic. Fortunately, San Francisco birders adapted to the challenge. Although we had to follow strict new guidelines, this winter’s count turned out to be one of the best in decades. 103 socially distanced counters ended up tallying more than 68,000 birds by the end of the day on December 29th – the highest tally in more than 30 years. This was also up about 35% from last year’s total – which is even more impressive considering we had a lot fewer counters, and we didn’t have access to all the areas we are normally able to access.
In addition to solo bird counting, this was also the year of modernization. We transitioned away from paper tallies to using eBird for data collection and compiling. A total of 269 eBird lists were submitted. Counters were also able to accurately pinpoint the boundaries of each area, thanks to GIS maps created by William Wiskes. And the traditional count dinner was replaced with a well attended Zoom countdown.
By the time count week was over, the species tally stood at 189 – only two species fewer than last year’s record 191 species. There were lots of rare species – 29 in all. Almost every area (14 of 17) had one or more rare species.
The best bird of the count was a Black Storm-Petrel, spotted by Josiah Clark, flying 100 yards offshore at Crissy Field. A Storm-Petrel has never before been seen on a San Francisco Christmas Bird Count, and Black Storm-Petrels have only been seen five times in the 120-year history of the count in California. An Ancient Murrelet seen from Ocean Beach was the other seabird of note.

Overall duck numbers were similar to previous years, with increases in American Wigeons and Northern Shovelers but declines in other species. We missed White-Winged Scoter for the first time ever, which is remarkable considering that in 1990, there were more than 1,200 seen. Scaup numbers dropped to 611 (down almost two-thirds from last year). We had two Redheads on the count (Crystal Springs), as well as a Long-Tailed Duck (Land’s End). A Harlequin Duck (Cliff House) was seen during count week.
The highest number for a single species was for Double-Crested Cormorant, with 5,303 reported, with almost all of these viewed on the Bay from the South of Market area.…