Santa Barbara Birders Talley 206 Species in Monster Bird Count! by Joan E. Lentz Santa Barbara Audubon's annual Christmas Bird Count on January 5, 2002, was marked by great pre-Count scouting, terrific teamwork on Count Day, and the unmatched enthusiasm of all the birders who participated. What a day! The weather cooperated, many rare birds were counted, and attendance at the compilation dinner in Fleischmann Auditorium was high. Thank you Santa Barbara Audubon for supporting such a great effort. After a rainy two weeks prior to Count Day, we had a calm, sunny day at last. Teams fanned out over the 15-mile diameter Count Circle (centered at the corner of Highway 154 and Foothill Rd.) and tallied an amazing 206 different kinds of birds seen or heard in the 24-hour period. By noon, at the Goleta Beach countdown organized by Karen Bridgers, we were still missing lots of species. Although most of the stake-outs (those birds found prior to Count Day and "staked out" to be counted by someone on January 5) were ticked off, there were some terrible holes in the list. Everybody realized that we just did not have the geese, ducks and other waterbirds that are often here. Rumor has it that due to a warm winter up in the Northwest and Canada, watery areas had not frozen and waterfowl remained there instead of journeying south to Southern California. If you look at the results, you will see we missed many waterbirds altogether, or had low numbers on others.

The perching birds, however, showed up in record numbers. We noted high counts for lots of species in this category but the most numerous bird on the count was the American Robin with an unprecedented total of 7066! And they were joined by lots of Cedar Waxwings - 2114 - to be exact. An occasional influx like this, known as a flight year for that species, is usually due to a failure of food supplies (perhaps berries?) farther north.

This Count had its share of rarities, those "goodies" that are not found on the regular list. These are the exciting birds that continue to lure people to bird in our beautiful area all winter long. The rarest bird on the Count? Probably the Western Kingbird found feeding in a backyard side-by-side with many Cassin's Kingbirds. (Noticed the day AFTER Count Day, the pesky Tropical Kindbird was also in this yard.) Next rarest were the amazing three Northern Waterthrushes. These warblers, which had never been recorded on the Santa Barbara Count before, presented themselves to astonished viewers at the Zoo (not in the enclosures!), Arroyo Burro Creek, and west Goleta. Other interesting birds found were the Tennessee, Chestnut-sided, Worm-eating, and Pine warblers, plus three Clay-colored Sparrows and a Harris's Sparrow - the latter in a flock of White-crowned Sparrows at Lake Los Carneros.

Every year, Santa Barbara birders wait anxiously to see if any of the previous winter's finds will return to take up residence and be counted. The most famous bird in this category is the Zone-tailed Hawk, back for its ninth year! Unlike last year when it was missed, we were able to find the Zone-tailed perched on a utility pole near North Fairview Avenue. The Rusty Blackbird, another bird that doesn't belong in these parts, is back for its third year, hanging around the entrance to Costco in west Goleta!

It is such an inspiration to compile the Santa Barbara Christmas Count, because so many fabulous people are involved. This year we had lots of out-of-town birders who helped cover every inch of the Count Circle. Local participation was at an all-time high, too. From beginner to expert, we welcome them all.

I especially want to thank Karen Bridgers, Joan Hardie, Dave Compton, Rebecca Coulter, and Chris Walden for their help in putting on the Count. And, in the big picture, preliminary results suggest Santa Barbara tied for the second highest species count in the nation with our friendly rival, Freeport, Texas. We may never beat Mad Island Marsh (with 233 species), but with a Count this good, who cares?

Christmas Bird Count Contacts

• Joan Lentz (969-4397)
• Karen Bridgers (964-1316)
• Joan and George Hardie (964-4090)
• Chris Walden (969-4397)

• Last year's talley for comparison purposes

SBAS Christmas Bird Count Totals
January 5, 2002

Loons Red-throated Loon 6 Pacific Loon 17 Common Loon 49 loon species 12 Grebes Pied-billed Grebe 115 Horned Grebe 19 Eared Grebe 49 Western Grebe 208 Clark's Grebe 5 Shearwaters Northern Fulmar Shearwater 0 Black-vented Shearwater 30 Pelicans Brown Pelican 611 Cormorants Double-crested Cormorant 363 Brandt's Cormorant 50 Pelagic Cormorant 5 Herons American Bittern 1 Least Bittern* 1 Great Blue Heron 45 Great Egret 35 Snowy Egret 57 Cattle Egret 0 Green Heron 10 Black-crowned Night Heron 61 Swans, Geese, and Ducks Gr. White-fronted Goose 0 Snow Goose* 0 Ross's Goose* 0 Brant* 0 Canada Goose 117 Canada Goose (small race) 0 Wood Duck 4 Green-winged Teal 77 Mallard 361 Northern Pintail 38 Blue-winged Teal* 0 Cinnamon Teal 12 Northern Shoveler 88 Gadwall 87 Eursian Wigeon* 0 American Wigeon 54 Canvasback 0 Redhead 24 Ring-necked Duck 61 Greater Scaup* 1 Lesser Scaup 2 Surf Scoter 45 White-Winged Scoter* 0 Common Goldeneye 1 Bufflehead 91 Hooded Merganser 0 Common Merganser 11 Red-Breasted Merganser 7 Ruddy Duck 218 New World Vultures Turkey Vulture 142 Hawks Osprey* 0 White-tailed Kite 22 Northern Harrier 8 Sharp-shinned Harrier 16 Cooper's Hawk 26 Red-shouldered Hawk 84 Red-tailed Hawk 130 Golden Eagle 4 Falcons American Kestrel 54 Merlin 9 Peregrine Falcon* 2 Quails and Turkeys Wild Turkey 45 California Quail 229 Mountain Quail 0 Rails and Gallinules Virginia Rail 3 Sora 11 Common Moorhen 3 American Coot 718 Plovers Black-bellied Plover 72 Snowy Plover 182 Simipalmated Plover 4 Killdeer 209 Stilts and Avocets Black-necked Stilt 7 American Avocet 0 Sandpipers Greater Yellowlegs 21 Lesser Yellowlegs* 0 Willet 114 Spotted Sandpiper 4 Whimbrel 57 Long-billed Curlew 3 Marbled Godwit 98 Ruddy Turnstone 2 Black Turnstone 24 Sanderling 346 Western Sandpiper 11 Least Sandpiper 68 Dunlin 1 Long-billed Dowitcher 42 Common Snipe 11 Red Phalarope* 0 Jaegers, Gulls and Terns Pomarine Jaeger* 4 Parasitic Jaeger 0 jaeger species 3 Bonaparte's Gull 3 Heermann's Gull 292 Mew Gull 59 Ring-billed Gull 149 California Gull 332 Herring Gull 3 Thayer's Gull* 1 Western Gull 1108 Glaucous-winged Gull 22 Black-legged Kittiwake* 0 Caspian Tern* 0 Royal Tern 33 Forster's Tern 3 Black Skimmer 121 Alcids Common Murre 1 Cassin's Auklet 0 Rhinoceros Auklet 13 Pigeons Rock Dove 1612 Band-tailed Pigeon 362 Spotted Dove 3 Mourning Dove 772 Common Ground-Dove 2 Cuckoos Greater Roadrunner 8 Owls Barn Owl 3 Western Screech Owl 6 Great Horned Owl 18 Northern Pygmy Owl 1 Burrowing Owl 1

Swifts White-throated Swift 72 Hummingbirds Anna's Hummingbird 774 Costa's Hummingbird* 2 Allen's Hummingbird* 2 Selasphorus sp. 6 Kingfishers Belted Kingfisher 2 Woodpeckers Acorn Woodpecker 732 Red-naped Sapsucker* 0 Red-breasted Sapsucker 14 Nuttall's Woodpecker 46 Downey Woodpecker 55 Hairy Woodpecker 11 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 234 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)* 0 Tyrant Flycatchers Black Phoebe 318 Say's Phoebe 80 Tropical Kingbird* 0 Cassin's Kingbird* 32 Larks Horned Lark 0 Jays and Crows Steller's Jay 2 Scrub Jay 995 Yellow-billed Magpie* 7 American Crow 2361 Common Raven 13 Chickadees and Titmice Mountain Chickadee 0 Oak Titmouse 375 Bushtits Bushtit 2139 Nuthatches Red-breasted Nuthatch 8 White-breasted Nuthatch 73 Creepers Brown Creeper 3 Wrens Rock Wren 1 Canyon Wren 21 Bewick's Wren 189 House Wren 39 Winter Wren 5 Marsh Wren 30 Old World Warblers and Thrushes Golden-crowned Kinglet 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 687 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 81 Western Bluebird 143 Townsend's Solitaire 1 Hermit Thrush 165 American Robin 7066 Varied Thrush 2 Wrentit 279 Thrashers Northern Mockingbird 202 California Thrasher 153 Wagtails and Pipits American Pipit 132 Waxwings Cedar Waxwings 2114 Silky Flycatchers Phainopepla 1 Shrikes Loggerhead Shrike 19 Starlings European Starling 1467 Vireos Hutton's Vireo 109 Wood Warblers, Tanagers, and Sparrows Orange-crowned Warbler 253 Nashville Warbler* 3 Yellow Warbler* 1 Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler 5292 Yellow (Myrtle) Warbler 195 Black-th. Gray Warbler* 5 Townsend's Warbler 279 Hermit Warbler* 0 Palm Warbler* 3 Black-and-white Warbler* 2 Common Yellowthroat 234 Wilson's Warbler* 4 Summer Tanager* 0 Western Tanager* 7 Rose-breasted Grosbeak* 0 Black-headed Grosbeak* 1 Spotted Towhee 219 California Towhee 555 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 13 Chipping Sparrow 25 Lark Sparrow 43 Sage Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 298 Fox Sparrow 37 Song Sparrow 255 Lincoln's Sparrow 40 Swamp Sparrow* 1 White-throated Sparrow* 13 Golden-crowned Sparrow 443 White-crowned Sparrow 1420 Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 698 Dark-eyed (Sl.-col.) Junco 2 Dark-eyed (Gr.-head) Junco 2 Blackbirds and Orioles Red-winged Blackbird 315 Tricolored Blackbird 9 Western Meadowlark 254 Brewer's Blackbird 375 Great-tailed Grackle 20 Brown-headed Cowbird 40 Orchard Oriole* 0 Hooded Oriole* 0 Baltimore Oriole* 0 Bullock's Oriole* 12 Scott's Oriole* 0 Finches Purple Finch 67 House Finch 1514 Pine Siskin 4 Lesser Goldfinch 489 Lawrence's Goldfinch 6 American Goldfinch 530 Old World Sparrows House Sparrow 195 Additional Species Zone-tailed Hawk 1 Ancient Murrelet 1 Short-eared Owl 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 Western Kingbird 1 Plumbeous Vireo 1 Cassin's Vireo 2 Barn Swallow 16 Tennessee Warbler 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Pine Warbler 1 Worm-eating Warbler 1 Northern Waterthrush 3 Clay-colored Sparrow 3 Grasshopper Sparrow 1 Harris's Sparrow 1 Rusty Blackbird 1 Grand Total:       206 Species

Count Period Birds

1X   Tropical Kingbird

1X   Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Notes

* Rare, requires written description

X Seen in Count Period (3 days before and 3 days after Count Day), but not on Count Day