Every year on the first Saturday of May (give or take a week), Kane County Audubon joins birders across the state to participate in a statewide bird count.  2011 marked the 40^th consecutive year that Kane County Audubon (and state birders) has conducted a Spring Bird Count.  This year, sixty-two birders fanned out to cover the county in 26 groups, attempting to count as many birds as possible on May 7^th.

Over the 40-year history of the Kane County spring count, 496,669 birds have been identified and counted. A record 22,889 birds were counted this year, well above the average of 12,417.

Yet again, the Red-winged Blackbird took honors as the most-counted species with 3,352 birds tallied, setting a new record. Of the 170 species counted this year, 132 posted numbers above their yearly average. 

An impressive 25 species set new high counts this year. (The Eastern Bluebird tied its previous high count.) The new record highs include:

The details for this year's count are presented below. The complete 40 year record in spreadsheet form (.xls) can be downloaded here.