Date: 6/21/25 2:05 pm From: Scott Seier via groups.io <spseier...> Subject: [NEBirds] 2025 Humboldt Breeding Bird Survey
Nebraska birders:
I've enjoyed reading the Breeding Bird Survey summaries submitted by others, so I am submitting a summary of my route as well.
This is my fourth year running the Humboldt BBS route. It starts south of Humboldt, at the intersection of Highway 8 and 634th Avenue in Richardson County, and ends west of Auburn, in Nemaha County. It appears that the route was started in 2018, with data available for both 2018 and 2019. It also appears that the route was not run in 2020 or 2021, as no data is available for either year. I started running the route in 2022. This year I observed 64 species, which is an all-time high for the route, and 677 total individuals.
A few observations from this year's route:
1. I was surprised by an olive-sided flycatcher near the end of my route, in Nemaha County. Presumably, it was a late migrant. See this eBird checklist for documentation: https://ebird.org/checklist/S245510732.
2. I was also surprised by two singing alder flycatchers, both earlier in the morning in Richardson County. This is the first time I've observed an empidonax species of any type on this route.
3. Notable high counts this year include northern bobwhite (46, tied with 2024), great blue heron (4), red-headed woodpecker (10), red-bellied woodpecker (22), great-crested flycatcher (20), warbling vireo (10), red-eyed vireo (4), bluejay (31), orchard oriole (8), and common grackle (13).
4. Notable low counts were red-tailed hawk (1), cliff swallow (7), brown thrasher (4), grasshopper sparrow (3), red-winged blackbird (37), and dickcissel (67).
5. A new species for me was two upland sandpipers (previously observed by other(s) in 2018 and 2019).
6. New to the route this year include the above mentioned olive-sided flycatcher and alder flycatchers, an Eurasian collared-dove, and chimney swifts.
7. I observed signs of breeding for the following species: red-headed woodpecker, brown thrasher, red-winged blackbird, and European starling.
8. The start and end temperatures were both lows for the four years I've run the route, which makes me wonder if/how the temperatures influenced the outcomes.
See below for a a full summary of my observations.
