Christmas Bird Count
Bradenton Circle 2024 CBC Results
A message from Kathy Doddridge, CBC Compiler:
Bradenton Circle CBC – December 14, 2024
Kathy Doddridge, Compiler
Bradenton Circle Christmas Bird Count

On Saturday, December 14, sixty-one members of the Manatee Audubon Society participated in the 125th Audubon Christmas Bird Count covering the 15-mile-wide Bradenton Circle.
The teams of birders tallied 154 species and 33,551 individual birds, which was an increase over 2023 (3% and 7% respectively). While the numbers of individuals were up from 2023, there has been a downward trend over the last four years. Damage to habitat caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, removal of trees for new development and restricted access to more residential areas continues to be a challenge for birders and birds.
Highlights included birds rarely seen in Bradenton during a count: Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Bufflehead, American Bittern, Piping Plover, Red Knot, White-winged Dove, Northern Flicker, Peregrine Falcon, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, and Black-throated Blue Warbler. Piping Plovers and Red Knots are regular visitors to Anna Maria Island, but are not often seen within the count circle. While we see many migrating warblers in the Spring and Fall, this is the first time a Black-throated Blue Warbler has been included in the last 12 years!
Other highlights were the high numbers of Black-crowned Night-heron, Red-tailed Hawk, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Sanderling, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers, American Robin, Eastern Meadowlark and American Goldfinch.
The results from this annual event help conservation biologists and ornithologists identify conservation actions needed to protect birds and places they need.
For more information about joining the 2025 Christmas Bird Count, to be held December 20, 2025, contact the compiler Kathy Doddridge at kathydoddridg56@gmail.com
If you would like to learn more about the birds of Manatee County, consider taking the annual Bird ID course which starts January 20, 2025. For more information and to register, go to: https://manateeaudubon.org/bird-id-class/
Kathy Doddridge has been a member of Manatee County Audubon Society since 2013 and became the Compiler of the Bradenton Circle Christmas Bird Count in 2018. She has been active in the birding community by leading field trips, teaching children and seniors, monitoring and reporting on nesting shorebirds, and developing instructional materials.
Manatee County Audubon is a chapter of the National Audubon Society with a mission to promote the conservation and appreciation of birds and wildlife habitat. We accomplish this through maintaining wildlife habitats like the Felts Audubon Preserve, offering education programs for members of all ages, leading advocacy efforts, and participating in land and wildlife conservation projects.
History of the Christmas Bird Count
Prior to the turn of the 20th century, hunters engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt.” They would choose sides and go afield with their guns—whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.
The conservation movement was still in its beginning stages in that era, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about the declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a “Christmas Bird Census” that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them.
Manatee County's CBC results
