Summer Point Count

BREEDING BIRD POINT COUNTS

As part of the Kiawah Island Bird Monitoring Program, 218 point count surveys are conducted annually on Kiawah Island. The points are located across the island from Captain Sam’s Spit to Little Bear Island in all major upland cover types except for open dunes and beach. For logistical convenience, a majority of the points are located on secondary and tertiary roads and trails, however in areas where roads or trails are not present points are located off-road. The minimum distance between point-count stations is 250 meters in order to reduce the possibility of recording the same bird twice. All individuals heard or seen within a 5 minute period are recorded. Birds flying over the area are recorded separately from all other birds. The point count survey is divided into 8 separate routes with each route consisting of 15-34 points. One route is conducted per day during the count period with each route beginning at sunrise and ending no later than 11:00am. Each route is conducted in the same order and during the same time period each year.

RESULTS

SPECIES	RANKING (Based on Relative Abundance)
SPECIES	2012	2011	2010	2009
Carolina Chickadee	1	1	2	1
Northern Cardinal	2	4	3	2
Tufted Titmouse	3	3	5	3
Laughing Gull	4	2	1	5
Carolina Wren	5	6	3	4
Red-winged Blackbird	6	5	9	6
Blue Jay	7	10	6	9
American Crow	8	8	8	7
Great Crested Flycatcher	9	9	10	10
Common Grackle	10	7	7	8