A question came in recently asking about the number of species of birds that could be found in the Lake Charles area on any given day.
I did not have an answer, but I knew where to go for one — the Gulf Coast Bird Club and in particular, member Irvin Louque.
He headed up a group of birders — club members and certified Southwest Louisiana Master Naturalists — who surveyed a 15-mile radius of the city on a December day, coming up with 108 species.
According to the report that Louque made for the club’s newsletter, there were 15 birders at the one-day event and the participants were split into five teams to cover the area.
Louque said “Some of the observations from the count included four white-tailed kites, huge flocks of blackbirds (estimated 100,000), 1,500 tree swallows, a great horned owl, one crested caracara, one peregrine falcon and a flock of 20 ruddy ducks.”
“Of particular interest to me was the white-tailed kite,” Louque said. “It’s a medium-sized hawk with narrow pointed wings and a long white tail. It is fairly common in Texas. Years ago we used to drive all the way to Sabine Pass to see it.”
He noted that the hawk seems to have been successful in expanding its range.
At the same time other members of the organization took part in a count administered by the National Audubon Society.
Bird club member Jeanie Pousson was the count coordinator and noted that on the appointed day, 151 species were spotted in Cameron Parish.
She said on a cold and windy day, 29 birders made the count of the species that included 21,724 birds.
Some of the birds seen were black scoters, surf scoter, a long-tailed duck, common goldeneye, Bell’s vireo, Nashville warbler, two least bitterns, bald eagle and greater scaup.
Pousson noted that the number of black scoters (65) seen was higher than usual.
“This coastal, stocky sea-duck is common in winter along (the) central Atlantic coast and the northern Pacific coast but is scarce toward the south.”
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Club member Mohamed El-Mogazi said daily counts will vary from season to season as well as day to day due to the number of migrating birds that come through in the spring and the early fall.
He said only the breeding birds will stay year-round, like the cardinal, mocking bird, blue jay, sparrow. Also, one sees many of the herons on a regular basis.
“It’s just hard to put a number to it,” he said of the birds that make the area their home throughout the year, adding that a lot depends on the weather and the habitat. “It’s just hard to come up with a meaningful percent.”
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