At the beginning of the year, I posted my “Little Year 2017” challenge to myself and any friends who wanted to try. I found this to be a very rewarding way to change how I observe the natural world and think that I have learned a lot. I ended the year with:
- 93 bird species (19 life list)
- 11 mammals (2 new life list)
- 3 reptiles
Birds:
| Common name | Species | General location | Date | New Life List | |
| 1 | Canada goose | Branta candadiensis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 2 | Northern flicker | Colaptes auratus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 3 | American robin | Turdus migratorius | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 4 | Red-tailed hawk | Buteo jamaicensis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 5 | American crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 6 | Mourning dove | Zenaida macroura | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 7 | European starling | Sturnus vulgaris | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 8 | Fish crow | Corvus ossifragus | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 9 | Boat-tailed grackle | Quiscalus major | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 10 | White ibis | Eudocimus albus | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 11 | House sparrow | Passer domesticus | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 12 | Laughing gull | Larus atricilla | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 13 | Common loon | Gavia immer | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 14 | Green heron | Butorides virescens | Miami, FL | 1/4/2017 | |
| 15 | Yellow-rumped warbler | Dendroica coronata | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | x |
| 16 | Rock dove | Columba livia | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | |
| 17 | Red-bellied woodpecker | Melanerpes carolinus | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | x |
| 18 | Eurasian collared dove | Streptopelia decaocto | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | |
| 19 | Loggerhead shrike | Lanius ludovicianus | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | |
| 20 | Blue jay | Cyanocitta cristata | Miami, FL | 1/5/2017 | |
| 21 | Ring-billed gull | Larus delawarensis | Miami, FL | 1/6/2017 | |
| 22 | Brown pelican | Pelecanus occidentalis | Miami, FL | 1/6/2017 | |
| 23 | Muscovy duck | Cairina moschata | Miami, FL | 1/6/2017 | |
| 24 | Northern cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/14/2017 | |
| 25 | Dark-eyed junco | Junco hyemalis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/14/2017 | |
| 26 | Black-capped chickadee | Poecile atricapillus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/14/2017 | |
| 27 | Carolina wren | Thryothorus ludovicianus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/14/2017 | |
| 28 | Purple finch | Carpodacus mexicanus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/15/2017 | |
| 29 | Brown creeper | Certhia americana | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/15/2017 | x |
| 30 | White-crowned sparrow | Zonotrichia leucophrys | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/15/2017 | |
| 31 | Canvasback | Aythya salisineria | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/21/2017 | x |
| 32 | Bufflehead | Bucephala albeola | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/21/2017 | |
| 33 | Great blue heron | Ardea herodias | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/23/2017 | |
| 34 | Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | Independence, MO | 2/10/2017 | |
| 35 | American kestrel | Falco sparverius | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/12/2017 | |
| 36 | Gadwall | Anas strepera | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/12/2017 | x |
| 37 | Northern mockingbird | Mimus polyglottos | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/17/2017 | |
| 38 | Killdeer | Charadrius vociferus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/19/2017 | |
| 39 | Northern harrier | Circus cyaneus | Blue Springs | 2/20/2017 | |
| 40 | Hooded marganser | Lophodytes cucullatus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/25/2017 | x |
| 41 | Red-winged blackbird | Agelaius phoeniceus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/27/2017 | |
| 42 | American coot | Fulica americana | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/27/2017 | |
| 43 | Bald eagle | Haliaeetus leucocephalus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 3/1/2017 | |
| 44 | Turkey | Meleagris gallopavo | Lee’s Summit, MO | 3/4/2017 | |
| 45 | Turkey vulture | Cathartes aura | Tennessee | 3/17/2017 | |
| 46 | Carolina chickadee | Poecile carolinensis | Nashville, Tennessee | 3/18/2017 | x |
| 47 | Black vulture | Coragyps atratus | Tennessee | 3/20/2017 | |
| 48 | Common grackle | Quiscalus quiscula | Lee’s Summit, MO | 3/26/2017 | |
| 49 | Western gull | Larus occidentalis | San Francisco | 3/28/2017 | |
| 50 | Brewers black bird | Euphagus cyanocephalus | San Francisco | 3/28/2017 | |
| 51 | Stellers jay | Cyanocitta stelleri | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | |
| 52 | Ruddy duck | Oxyura jamaicensis | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | x |
| 53 | Northern shoveler | Anas clypeata | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | |
| 54 | Double-breasted cormorant | Phalacrocorax auritus | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | |
| 55 | Cooper’s hawk | Accipiter cooperii | Lee’s Summit, MO | 4/1/2017 | |
| 56 | Scissor-tail flycatcher | Tyrannus forficatus | Liberty, MO | 4/8/2017 | |
| 57 | Brown-headed cowbird | Molothrus ater | Kansas City, MO | 4/11/2017 | |
| 58 | Cedar waxwing | Bombycilla cedorum | Atlanta, GA | 4/19/2017 | |
| 59 | Song sparrow | Melospiza melodia | Atlanta, GA | 4/19/2017 | x |
| 60 | Eastern bluebird | Sialia sialis | Atlanta, GA | 4/19/2017 | |
| 61 | Barn swallow | Hirundo rustica | Lee’s Summit, MO | 4/22/2017 | |
| 62 | Hairy woodpecker | Leuconotopicus villosus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 4/23/2017 | |
| 63 | American goldfinch | Carduelis tristis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 5/7/2017 | |
| 64 | Eastern kingbird | Tryannus tyrannus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 5/7/2017 | |
| 65 | Indigo bunting | Passerina cyanea | Lee’s Summit, MO | 5/8/2017 | |
| 66 | Cliff swallow | Hirundo pyrrhonota | Lee’s Summit, MO | 5/15/2017 | x |
| 67 | Brown thrasher | Toxostoma rufum | Lee’s Summit, MO | 5/15/2017 | |
| 68 | Great egret | Ardea alba | Lake buena vista, Florida | 5/24/2017 | |
| 69 | Common moorhen | Gallinula chloropus | Orlando area | 5/27/2017 | |
| 70 | Ruby-throated humming bird | Archilochus colubris | Lee’s Summit, MO | 6/16/2017 | |
| 71 | Horned lark | Erenophila alpestris | San Diego | 8/1/2017 | x |
| 72 | Black phoebe | Sayornis nigricans | San Diego | 8/1/2017 | |
| 73 | Heermann’s Gull | Larus heermanni | San Diego | 8/1/2017 | |
| 74 | Snowy egret | Egretta thula | San Diego | 8/2/2017 | |
| 75 | Caspian tern | Hydroprogne caspia | San Diego | 8/2/2017 | |
| 76 | Anna’s Hummingbird | Calypte anna | San Diego | 8/2/2017 | x |
| 77 | Willet | Catoptrophorus semipalmatus | San Diego | 8/2/2017 | x |
| 78 | Hooded crow | Corvus cornix | Rome, Italy | 9/19/2017 | |
| 79 | Yellow-legged gull | Larus michahellis | Rome, Italy | 9/20/2017 | x |
| 80 | Italian sparrow | Passer italiae | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | x |
| 81 | Greylag goose | Anser anser | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | |
| 82 | Monk parakeet | Myiopsitta monachus | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | |
| 83 | Rose-winged parakeet | Psittacula krameri | Rome, Italy | 9/19/2017 | |
| 84 | European robin | Erithacus rubecula | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | |
| 85 | Little egret | Egretta garzetta | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | |
| 86 | Blackbird | Turdus merula | Rome, Italy | 9/23/2017 | |
| 87 | Downy woodpecker | Picoides pubescens | Lee’s Summit, MO | 11/19/2017 | x |
| 88 | Whimbrel | Numenius phaeopus | Orange County, CA | 12/13/2017 | |
| 89 | Snowy plover | Charadrius alexandrius | Orange County, CA | 12/13/2017 | x |
| 90 | Allen’s hummingbird | Selasphorus sasin | Orange County, CA | 12/13/2017 | x |
| 91 | Royal tern | Sterna maxima | Orange County, CA | 12/14/2017 | |
| 92 | California thrasher | Toxostoma redivivum | Orange County, CA | 12/14/2017 | x |
| 93 | Northwestern crow | Corvus caurinus | Vancouver, Canada | 12/11/2017 |
Mammals:
| Common name | Species | General location | Date | New Life List | |
| 1 | Grey squirrel | Sciurus carolinensis | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/1/2017 | |
| 2 | White tailed deer | Odocoileus virginianus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/2/2017 | |
| 3 | Eastern cottontail | Sylvilagus floridanus | Lee’s Summit, MO | 1/9/2017 | |
| 4 | Coyote | Canis latrans | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/4/2017 | |
| 5 | Fox squirrel | Sciurus niger | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/5/2017 | |
| 6 | Racoon | Procyon lotor | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/7/2017 | |
| 7 | Oppossum | Didelphis virginiana | Lee’s Summit, MO | 2/21/2017 | |
| 8 | Groundhog | Marmota monax | Tennessee | 3/17/2017 | |
| 9 | Townsend’s mole | Scapanus townsendii | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | x |
| 10 | California sea lion | Zalophus californianus | San Francisco | 3/30/2017 | |
| 11 | Red squirrel | Sciurius vulgaris | Rome, Italy | 9/22/2017 | x |
One of the joys and frustrations of doing this were all of the “ones that got away”. Or more accurately, the ones that I saw, knew were “new” but couldn’t get enough detail to classify. For example, I watched huge numbers of diverse birds in an estuary near San Diego but couldn’t get pictures with enough detail to make a strong ID, though I was proud to id some willets based on their wing markings and added them to my life list. I also am very strict and only document IDs where I am confident that I have enough information. For example, where I live there are two overlapping species of meadowlarks. Their songs are different and they have very fine differences around their beaks. But I couldn’t make a good ID and have not included them.
I have already started my 2018 Little Year. For anybody who wants to do this, I’ve created a spreadsheet that helps me and am sharing it here. 2018 Little year template
As you fill it out, put “Aves” in the “Class” on the birds tab once you confirm a sighting and it will show up in the total on the face sheet. Same with “Mammalia” for confirmed mammals. Enjoy!
