In early January, a holiday tradition commenced as 41 people gathered in Kalispell and explored the city with binoculars and field guides. Through single-digit temperatures, this group spent the entire day tallying the various bird species that call this city home.

The results were bountiful: 19,380 birds were counted and 78 different species. The 17th annual Kalispell Christmas Bird Count, organized through the Flathead Audubon, ventured within a 15-mile diameter circle around Kalispell, including Evergreen, parts of the Flathead River corridor, the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area Happy Valley, Herron Park and Kuhn’s Wildlife Area.

“It’s mostly for fun but it also gains interesting data about bird trends and the distribution,” said Pete Fisher, who compiled the data for Flathead Audubon.

The bird count was one of 30 across Montana that takes place every winter to help survey the feathered flocks that dwell or migrate here.

Thirty volunteers participated in the 42nd annual Christmas Bird Count in Bigfork on Dec. 19. Twenty people took part in the 23rd annual Eureka count on Dec. 20. For a complete breakdown of the region’s bird counts, visit flatheadaudobon.org.

Here’s a breakdown of local results and highlights:

1

Dark-phase Gyrfalcon, the largest of the falcon species, seen in Kalispell this year. This was only the third report of a Gyrfalcon in Kalispell in 17 years.

100

Bald eagles counted in Kalispell, the most for a single-day tally.

3

New species discovered in Kalispell — snow goose, cackling goose and red-breasted Merganser — raising the all-time total species to 125.

12,911

Birds recorded in the Bigfork count. The total number consisted of 83 species.

10

Northern Pygmy-owls counted in Bigfork, the most for a single-day tally in 42 years. The group also tallied a record number of Pacific Loons (two) and Bufflehead (269).

3,222

Birds counted in Eureka on Dec. 20, the sixth most for a single-day tally in 23 years.

62

Bird species counted in Eureka, the fifth most in 23 years.