Tom’s Birding Page

Quarter-Month Status
Birds of Plum Island, Essex County, Massachusetts

Compiled by Tom Wetmore


This table shows the quarter-month status of the birds of Plum Island. It is based on my own data and on data collected for inclusion on the Plum Island sigthings web site.


Quarter-Month Status of the Birds of Plum Island — updated January 3, 2026

 Species N  Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Snow Goose 552 
Ross's Goose 27 
Greater White-fronted Goose 26 
Brant 1282 
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose 7296 
Mute Swan 4521 
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck 475 
Blue-winged Teal 1343 
Northern Shoveler 1501 
Gadwall 5886 
Eurasian Wigeon 316 
American Wigeon 2089 
Mallard 7086 
American Black Duck 7064 
Northern Pintail 3529 
Green-winged Teal 5236 
Canvasback 22 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Redhead 153 
Ring-necked Duck 387 
Greater Scaup 1252 
Lesser Scaup 796 
King Eider 122 
Common Eider 4597 
Harlequin Duck 63 
Surf Scoter 2159 
White-winged Scoter 4387 
Black Scoter 3389 
Long-tailed Duck 3468 
Bufflehead 3231 
Common Goldeneye 2484 
Barrow's Goldeneye 35 
Hooded Merganser 2361 
Common Merganser 496 
Red-breasted Merganser 3850 
Ruddy Duck 645 
Wild Turkey 2627 
Ring-necked Pheasant 85 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Pied-billed Grebe 956 
Horned Grebe 2715 
Red-necked Grebe 1652 
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe 71 
Rock Pigeon 4746 
Ringed Turtle-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove 6084 
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 302 
Black-billed Cuckoo 389 
Common Nighthawk 96 
Chuck-will's-widow
Eastern Whip-poor-will 385 
Chimney Swift 710 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 803 
King Rail 188 
Clapper Rail 151 
Virginia Rail 819 
Sora 528 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Common Gallinule 181 
American Coot 620 
Purple Gallinule
Black Rail 18 
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt 21 
American Avocet 252 
American Oystercatcher 92 
Northern Lapwing
Black-bellied Plover 3742 
American Golden-Plover 730 
Pacific Golden-Plover
Killdeer 3908 
Common Ringed Plover
Semipalmated Plover 3246 
Piping Plover 2394 
Wilson's Plover
Upland Sandpiper 22 
Whimbrel 792 
Black-tailed Godwit 11 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Hudsonian Godwit 405 
Marbled Godwit 100 
Ruddy Turnstone 1006 
Red Knot 849 
Ruff 26 
Stilt Sandpiper 1117 
Curlew Sandpiper 26 
Red-necked Stint
Sanderling 3416 
Dunlin 3296 
Purple Sandpiper 497 
Baird's Sandpiper 391 
Least Sandpiper 2574 
White-rumped Sandpiper 2278 
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 217 
Pectoral Sandpiper 1069 
Semipalmated Sandpiper 3239 
Western Sandpiper 368 
Short-billed Dowitcher 2412 
Long-billed Dowitcher 1036 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
American Woodcock 881 
Wilson's Snipe 460 
Spotted Sandpiper 1732 
Solitary Sandpiper 276 
Lesser Yellowlegs 2962 
Willet 2516 
Greater Yellowlegs 4833 
Wilson's Phalarope 260 
Red-necked Phalarope 45 
Red Phalarope 30 
Pomarine Jaeger 12 
Parasitic Jaeger 62 
Long-tailed Jaeger
Dovekie 54 
Common Murre 19 
Thick-billed Murre 46 
Razorbill 1137 
Black Guillemot 244 
Atlantic Puffin
Black-legged Kittiwake 406 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Sabine's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull 1743 
Black-headed Gull 40 
Little Gull 125 
Laughing Gull 997 
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull 5535 
Herring Gull 7353 
Iceland Gull 164 
Lesser Black-backed Gull 286 
Glaucous Gull 52 
Great Black-backed Gull 6858 
Least Tern 2350 
Gull-billed Tern 44 
Caspian Tern 195 
Black Tern 155 
Roseate Tern 625 
Common Tern 2652 
Arctic Tern 40 
Forster's Tern 325 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Royal Tern 40 
Sandwich Tern
Elegant Tern
Black Skimmer 85 
Red-throated Loon 2838 
Pacific Loon 17 
Common Loon 5095 
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 172 
Leach's Storm-Petrel 11 
Northern Fulmar
Cory's Shearwater 87 
Sooty Shearwater 25 
Great Shearwater 58 
Manx Shearwater 76 
Northern Gannet 2675 
Great Cormorant 857 
Double-crested Cormorant 5213 
Neotropic Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
American Bittern 793 
Least Bittern 1039 
Great Blue Heron 4590 
Great Egret 4867 
Little Egret
Snowy Egret 3937 
Little Blue Heron 233 
Tricolored Heron 297 
Cattle Egret 27 
Green Heron 418 
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1923 
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 420 
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis 1141 
White-faced Ibis 23 
Black Vulture 10 
Turkey Vulture 2583 
Osprey 3780 
Golden Eagle
Northern Harrier 5854 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1162 
Cooper's Hawk 2099 
Northern Goshawk 44 
Bald Eagle 2273 
Mississippi Kite
Red-shouldered Hawk 80 
Broad-winged Hawk 78 
Swainson's Hawk 11 
Red-tailed Hawk 2951 
Rough-legged Hawk 1520 
Eastern Screech-Owl 12 
Great Horned Owl 390 
Snowy Owl 1534 
Barred Owl 287 
Long-eared Owl 33 
Short-eared Owl 724 
Northern Saw-whet Owl 43 
Belted Kingfisher 1092 
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker 536 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 643 
Downy Woodpecker 4570 
Hairy Woodpecker 724 
Northern Flicker 2877 
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel 1098 
Merlin 2409 
Gyrfalcon
Peregrine Falcon 2980 
Prairie Falcon
Monk Parakeet
Ash-throated Flycatcher 13 
Great Crested Flycatcher 1351 
Western Kingbird 43 
Eastern Kingbird 2798 
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 28 
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Olive-sided Flycatcher 96 
Eastern Wood-Pewee 631 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 211 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Acadian Flycatcher 16 
Alder Flycatcher 446 
Willow Flycatcher 1739 
Least Flycatcher 433 
Eastern Phoebe 2240 
Say's Phoebe
White-eyed Vireo 127 
Yellow-throated Vireo 110 
Blue-headed Vireo 873 
Philadelphia Vireo 285 
Warbling Vireo 384 
Red-eyed Vireo 1935 
Yellow-green Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Northern Shrike 778 
Blue Jay 6162 
American Crow 6820 
Fish Crow 306 
Common Raven 1241 
Black-capped Chickadee 6930 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Tufted Titmouse 714 
Horned Lark 1776 
Bank Swallow 1433 
Tree Swallow 3944 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 258 
Purple Martin 2440 
Barn Swallow 2924 
Cliff Swallow 166 
Cave Swallow 11 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1470 
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1687 
Bohemian Waxwing 18 
Cedar Waxwing 3729 
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2527 
White-breasted Nuthatch 975 
Brown Creeper 778 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 429 
House Wren 837 
Winter Wren 252 
Sedge Wren
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Marsh Wren 3199 
Carolina Wren 1657 
Gray Catbird 4644 
Brown Thrasher 3374 
Sage Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird 6647 
European Starling 6186 
Eastern Bluebird 70 
Townsend's Solitaire
Veery 416 
Gray-cheeked Thrush 52 
Bicknell's Thrush
Swainson's Thrush 479 
Hermit Thrush 1887 
Wood Thrush 207 
American Robin 7218 
Northern Wheatear
House Sparrow 5144 
American Pipit 766 
Evening Grosbeak 16 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Pine Grosbeak 17 
House Finch 4359 
Purple Finch 3176 
Common Redpoll 354 
Hoary Redpoll 16 
Red Crossbill 218 
White-winged Crossbill 148 
Pine Siskin 406 
American Goldfinch 5628 
Lapland Longspur 386 
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Snow Bunting 1351 
Grasshopper Sparrow 25 
Lark Sparrow 77 
Lark Bunting
Chipping Sparrow 1391 
Clay-colored Sparrow 253 
Field Sparrow 2392 
Fox Sparrow 313 
American Tree Sparrow 2874 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Dark-eyed Junco 2397 
White-crowned Sparrow 695 
White-throated Sparrow 3542 
Vesper Sparrow 58 
Seaside Sparrow 1040 
Nelson's Sparrow 168 
Saltmarsh Sparrow 2283 
Savannah Sparrow 3301 
Song Sparrow 6829 
Lincoln's Sparrow 295 
Swamp Sparrow 2537 
Green-tailed Towhee 12 
Eastern Towhee 4217 
Yellow-breasted Chat 110 
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bobolink 2499 
Eastern Meadowlark 636 
Western Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole 1051 
Baltimore Oriole 2314 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Red-winged Blackbird 4430 
Brown-headed Cowbird 2423 
Rusty Blackbird 116 
Common Grackle 3860 
Ovenbird 627 
Worm-eating Warbler 32 
Louisiana Waterthrush 10 
Northern Waterthrush 709 
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler 120 
Black-and-white Warbler 1173 
Prothonotary Warbler 21 
Swainson's Warbler
Tennessee Warbler 205 
Orange-crowned Warbler 139 
Nashville Warbler 610 
Connecticut Warbler 73 
Mourning Warbler 182 
Kentucky Warbler 21 
Common Yellowthroat 3096 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Hooded Warbler 62 
American Redstart 2207 
Cape May Warbler 310 
Cerulean Warbler
Northern Parula 994 
Magnolia Warbler 896 
Bay-breasted Warbler 379 
Blackburnian Warbler 475 
Yellow Warbler 2730 
Chestnut-sided Warbler 536 
Blackpoll Warbler 1025 
Black-throated Blue Warbler 806 
Palm Warbler 968 
Pine Warbler 775 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3009 
Yellow-throated Warbler 11 
Prairie Warbler 366 
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler 967 
Canada Warbler 433 
 Jan  Feb  Mar  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sep  Oct  Nov  Dec
Wilson's Warbler 616 
Summer Tanager 48 
Scarlet Tanager 415 
Western Tanager
Northern Cardinal 6328 
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 699 
Blue Grosbeak 20 
Indigo Bunting 174 
Dickcissel 170 

January 3, 2026, Tom Wetmore