Starlings Favor White House By Anne Hebald Washington Post Staff Writer Three cardinals, six mockbirds, a red-bellied woodpecker, a blue jay, a fish crow, a robin, 69 house sparrows, 85 starlings and one pigeon were counted yesterday at the White House by a 6-foot-6 bird watcher from Oregon. Dr. Fred G. Evenden, executive director of The Wildlife Society here, is the first man to take an official bird census at the White House. President Theodore Roosevelt made lists of Washington area birds and marked an asterisk next to those he spotted at the White House. But that was just a pastime. Yesterday's count was part of the 70th National Annual Bird Count sponsored by the National Audubon Society. It included all visible or audible birds within a seven-mile radius of the Ellipse. The complete count will be made available today. Last year's figures revealed 99 species here and 30,204 individual birds, according to Audubon Field Notes, a journal of the bird-lovers' society. Dr. Evenden's White House assignment placed him squarely in history and squarely in the cold. For his trek, he wore a suit of thermal underwear, a hooded gray ski parka, wool trousers, plaid wool shirt and scarf, green and white pullover wool cap and a pair of size 14 rubber galoshes. See BIRDS, D5, Col. 1 Starlings Favor White House BIRDS, From D1 With the wind gusting to [illegible] miles an hour, Dr. Evenden tramped through crusty snow, pausing once for coffee in the East Wing and then resuming his search for birds on the 18-acres grounds. He was accompanied by Michael Farrell, an aide from the Office of White House Visitors. With seven-power binoculars swinging from his neck, Dr. Evenden's eyes were quick to spot even the robin, which he said, "should not have been here. The smart robins have gone south." Striding vigorously behind the White House, Dr. Evenden would stop short, visibly concentrating. He identified one bird, the red-bellied woodpecker, entirely by its sound. Having satisfied himself that he had made a correct identification, Dr. Evenden would extract from his pocket a spiral notebook to mark the name of the species and the exact number of birds. Although he has been a birdwatcher since the second grade, when he was a member of a Junior Audubon Club in his hometown of Woodburn, Ore., Dr. Evenden still carries a copy of A Golden Field Guide of Birds of North America. The White House assignment, he said later, was "very exciting," although on a day as windy as yesterday, he expected most birds to hide from the elements. Dr. Evenden walked across Pennsylvania Avenue to make a bird count in Lafayette Park. He stood still for almost a minute, binoculars to his eyes. He then wrote down, "Lafayette Park: Pigeons: 103." Even after counting the 89 starlings at the White House, Dr. Evenden exclaimed in Lafayette Park over the beauty of their iridescent breast feathers. After a bird count at the Ellipse, Dr. Evenden drove to his home in Maryland, where he has spotted 130 species of birds. President's Bird-Feeder "The President has a bird-feeding station outside his office window and a third of the birds we saw were feeding there," Evenden said. "I don't know whether the President saw us. We didn't see him." It has been more than 60 years since there has been a White House bird census, the National Park Service said yesterday. In 1904 and 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt personalls collected such data informally. No one seemed to know what led to yesterday's resumption of an official White House bird count. "Maybe someone at the Audubon Naturalist Society thought it would be a good idea," said Evenden. "It could be the beginning of a new tradition." Whatever the reason, the White House link helped to call attention to yesterday's annual Christmas bird count which has been conducted for the last 27 years in Washington. Elsewhere' nationally the count has been held for 70 years generally between Christmas and New Year's Day. Birds 'Quite tame' "The birds were quite tame," Evenden said. "But they were trying to stay out of the wind" in yesterday's below-freezing weather and gusts up to 50 miles an hour. The 48-year-old Evenden became a bird-watcher before he reached the rank of Eagle Scout with palms. He is now executive director of the Wildlife Society, an organization of 7,000 conservation professionals. A bird census is held three times yearly under sponsorship of the Audubon Society-one around Christmas; one in late April or early May; and the breeding count after migrations end in late May or early June. On the White House grounds yesterday, Evenden said star- A-14 THE SUNDAY STAR Washington, D. C., December 28, 1969 NIXON STAYS INSIDE Bird Count Resumed At the White House By ROBERT J. LEWIS Star Staff Writer A 6 foot 6 Ph. D. in bird ecology took the bird census on t.i. White House grounds yesterday and found it less than spectacular. "Only eight species were seen but we heard the call of another, a red-bellied woodpecker," said Fred G. Evenden, who handled the count for the National Audubon Society. President Nixon was working in his office while Evenden roamed the grounds but the President did not make an appearance. lins (85 seen) and sparrows (69) were most plentiful. Others, with the number seen, included: mocking birds (6); cardinals (3); robin (1 male); blue jay (1); fish crow (1) and rock dove, or pigeon (1). Evenden said that lone robin "should not have been here—the smart robins have gone south." By Frank Johnsten—The Washington Post Fred Evenden takes bird census at White House.