Tom’s Birding Page

Quarter-Month Status
Birds of Plum Island, Essex County, Massachusetts
Ordered by Number of Sightings

Compiled by Tom Wetmore


This table shows the quarter-month status of the birds of Plum Island. It is based primarily on data I have collected over the past five years. The species are listed in the order of their numbers of sightings. The column labeled ‘n’ orders the species. The column labeled ‘N’ shows the number of different days that each species has been reported on the island over the period of data collection. Birds that have been seen between two and 99 times have a second number in their ‘N’ column. This is the number of years that the species has been seen recorded. Cells in these two columns may be colored. Red cells indicate species that just moved up in the ordering. Blue cells indicate species that just moved down. Yellow cells indicate species that were seen on the last day of sightings.


Quarter-Month Status of the Birds of Plum Island — updated August 19, 2008

 Species n N  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Canada Goose  1  1595 
Herring Gull  2  1570 
American Robin  3  1561 
American Black Duck  4  1506 
American Crow  5  1505 
Mallard  6  1502 
Song Sparrow  7  1463 
Northern Harrier  8  1441 
Black-capped Chickadee  9  1399 
Great Black-backed Gull  10  1391 
Northern Mockingbird  11  1361 
Gadwall  12  1351 
European Starling  13  1251 
Mourning Dove  14  1211 
Northern Cardinal  15  1154 
Double-crested Cormorant  16  1141 
Greater Yellowlegs  17  1123 
American Goldfinch  18  1110 
Ring-billed Gull  19  1096 
Blue Jay  20  1082 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Green-winged Teal  21  1080 
Great Egret  22  1062 
Gray Catbird  23  1039 
Common Loon  24  998 
Great Blue Heron  25  979 
Mute Swan  26  973 
Snowy Egret  27  958 
Red-winged Blackbird  28  941 
Tree Swallow  29  933 
Eastern Towhee  30  904 
White-winged Scoter  31  864 
Killdeer  32  850 
Common Grackle  33  833 
Savannah Sparrow  34  815 
Osprey  35  803 
Common Eider  36  798 
Northern Pintail  37  797 
Cedar Waxwing  38  796 
Brown Thrasher  39  790 
Red-breasted Merganser  40  789 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
White-throated Sparrow  41  785 
Black-bellied Plover  42  758 
Marsh Wren  43  745 
House Sparrow  44  738 
Downy Woodpecker  45  719 
American Tree Sparrow  46  716 
House Finch  47  707 
Lesser Yellowlegs  48  688 
Semipalmated Sandpiper  49  680 
Eastern Kingbird  50  664 
Common Yellowthroat  51  660 
Semipalmated Plover  52  659 
Yellow Warbler  53  653 
Purple Finch  54  645 
Common Tern  55  642 
Yellow-rumped Warbler  56  636 
Rock Pigeon  57  610 
Bobolink  57  610 
Brown-headed Cowbird  59  605 
Long-tailed Duck  60  603 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Purple Martin  61  602 
Willet  62  593 
Least Sandpiper  63  592 
Bufflehead  64  586 
Barn Swallow  65  581 
Sanderling  66  565 
Red-throated Loon  67  550 
Peregrine Falcon  68  549 
Black Scoter  69  545 
Field Sparrow  70  541 
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow  71  529 
Merlin  72  528 
Short-billed Dowitcher  72  528 
Horned Grebe  74  522 
Blue-winged Teal  74  522 
Northern Gannet  76  513 
Horned Lark  77  512 
Least Tern  78  507 
Dunlin  79  503 
Common Goldeneye  80  495 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Hooded Merganser  81  490 
Bonaparte's Gull  82  477 
Northern Flicker  83  456 
White-rumped Sandpiper  84  455 
Dark-eyed Junco  85  454 
American Redstart  86  444 
Baltimore Oriole  87  442 
Turkey Vulture  88  428 
Piping Plover  89  420 
American Wigeon  90  408 
Eastern Phoebe  91  407 
Red-breasted Nuthatch  92  401 
Willow Flycatcher  93  396 
Black-crowned Night-Heron  94  386 
Snowy Owl  95  383 
Red-tailed Hawk  96  372 
Bank Swallow  97  363 
American Kestrel  98  361 
Spotted Sandpiper  99  359 
Swamp Sparrow  100  353 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Glossy Ibis  101  350 
Rough-legged Hawk  102  341 
Golden-crowned Kinglet  103  334 
Red-necked Grebe  104  333 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  105  331 
Surf Scoter  106  329 
<