Rusty Pritchard

Young birders atop an Indian mound at Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon, GA

On Friday and Saturday, my boys Angus and Ewan joined their friends Meggie, Patrick, and Eric, as a team competing in the Georgia Youth Birding Competition, in which teams try to spot (or hear) as many different bird species as they can in a 24-hour period. They started at 5 pm on Friday. All the teams converge on the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield, GA,to turn in their lists at 5 pm Saturday and to enjoy an awards banquet immediately afterward. There were lots of teams competing this year, in four age brackets.

Kids have to spot, identify, and record their sightings without adult help (except for driving!). Our team had 80 species, and placed third in the elementary group. The top team had just over a hundred birds!

Here’s our list from the 24 hour big day (birds added to the  life list of someone in the group are in ALL CAPS):

1. Canada Goose
2. Wood Duck
3. Mallard
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Wild Turkey
6. Common Loon
7. Double-crested Cormorant
8. AMERICAN BITTERN
9. Great Blue Heron
10. Great Egret
11. Little Blue Heron
12. Cattle Egret
13. Black Vulture
14. Turkey Vulture
15. Osprey
16. Cooper’s Hawk
17. Red-shouldered Hawk
18. Red-tailed Hawk
19. Common Moorhen
20. American Coot
21. Killdeer
22. GREATER YELLOWLEGS
23. LESSER YELLOWLEGS
24. SOLITARY SANDPIPER
25. Rock Pigeon
26. Eurasian Collared Dove
27. Mourning Dove
28. Barred Owl
29. Chimney Swift
30. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
31. Red-headed Woodpecker
32. Red-bellied Woodpecker
33. Downy Woodpecker
34. Northern Flicker
35. Pileated Woodpecker
36. Eastern Phoebe
37. Eastern Kingbird
38. White-eyed Vireo
39. Red-eyed Vireo
40. Blue Jay
41. American Crow
42. Fish Crow
43. Purple Martin
44. Tree Swallow
45. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
46. Cliff Swallow
47. Barn Swallow
48. Carolina Chickadee
49. Tufted Titmouse
50. Carolina Wren
51. Marsh Wren
52. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
53. Eastern Bluebird
54. Wood Thrush
55. American Robin
56. Gray Catbird
57. Northern Mockingbird
58. Brown Thrasher
59. European Starling
60. Cedar Waxwing
61. Yellow-rumped Warbler
62. Palm Warbler
63. Common Yellowthroat
64. Hooded Warbler
65. Eastern Towhee
66. Chipping Sparrow
67. Field Sparrow
68. Song Sparrow
69. Swamp Sparrow
70. Dark-eyed Junco
71. Northern Cardinal
72. Indigo Bunting
73. BOBOLINK
74. Red-winged Blackbird
75. Eastern Meadowlark
76. Common Grackle
77. Brown-headed Cowbird
78. House Finch
79. American Goldfinch
80. House Sparrow

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