Santa Barbara Birders Third in U.S. with 208 Species on Count Day! by Joan E. Lentz, January 2001 Santa Barbara birders have done it again - another super Christmas Bird Count day held December 30, 2000, with another great total for number of species sighted in our count circle during the 24-hour period! This isn't surprising. After all, Santa Barbara has been known for its diverse bird life and active birding community since before 1900. And yet, the enthusiasm of our birders, the incredible support of the local Audubon Board, and the skill and number of the participants increases every year. Count Day dawned clear and chilly. In contrast, by noon the sun shone hot, the ocean was calm, and not a breath of air stirred the trees. Ideal, you'd think. In light of conditions in other birding areas in the U.S., we shouldn't complain, but . . .this isn't necessarily good for counting birds. On the ocean, the dead calm meant extraordinarily few pelagic sightings. On land, the warm weather had birds scuttling for shade by mid-day. At the noon countdown, Karen Bridgers' tally showed some glaring loopholes in species missing or "stake-outs" not found. Scouting the Count Circle before the big day can lead to a better use of manpower and a knowledge of what areas produce the most birds. This year the "stake-outs", those birds found prior to Count Day that we'd hoped to re-find and count on December 30, gave us problems. Some of the "stake-outs" just didn't cooperate. The Zone-tailed Hawk, back for its seventh winter, was flying elsewhere, much to the chagrin of all.

Fortunately, there were heaps of birds that did show: the Least Bittern, Common Moorhen, and Thayer's Gull at Laguna Blanca, the Short-eared Owl at More Mesa, a Lewis's Woodpecker near Kellogg Ave. in Goleta, a Black-and-white Warbler along Maria Ygnacio Creek, five Tree Swallows over Lake Los Carneros, a Pygmy Nuthatch on La Cumbre Peak, a Dusky-capped Flycatcher in La Mesa Park, a Summer Tanager at the Music Academy, two Hooded Orioles at Arroyo Burro Creek, and a female Rusty Blackbird at the Costco parking lot near Storke and Hollister.

One of the most unusual birds on the Count was a Yellow-breasted Chat found along San Jose Creek. This bird, a regular visitor in spring and fall migration to the south coast, is unrecorded in the county in winter. Congratulations to the dedicated birders who found it.

What are the most difficult birds to find on the Count? Western Screech-Owls must be lured out in the pre-dawn hours. Ducks were scarce - only one Common Goldeneye was counted. Lack of recent rainfall resulted in low waterbird totals all over the Count circle. We were lucky to get two Cattle Egrets at the harbor, and a Snow Goose and two Ross's Geese in Goleta.

What was the most numerous bird on the Count? Yellow-rumped Warbler again took the honors with over 3400 individuals. Next came Western Grebe (a huge flock sits offshore More Mesa) and American Crow.

The aspect of the Christmas Bird Count that many of us look forward to most is the chance to meet old friends and gather in Fleischmann Auditorium at the Museum of Natural History for the compilation potluck. If the size of the attendance at the dinner has anything to do with the popularity of birding in this community, let me tell you - it's growing by leaps and bounds! Next year I'll have to order extra tables and chairs, there were so many people there for the countdown.

Thanks again to my co-compilers Karen Bridgers, George and Joan Hardie, and George and Maxine Roland, plus Chris Walden for her terrific organizational skills.

The final tally, 208 species, was arrived at after thorough checking of all the sightings. We're proud to announce that being number three nationwide behind Mad Island Marsh and Freeport, Texas, suits us just fine!

Christmas Bird Count Contacts

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

SBAS Christmas Bird Count Totals
December 30, 2000

Loons Red-throated Loon 13 Pacific Loon 8 Common Loon 20 loon species 10 Grebes Pied-billed Grebe 124 Horned Grebe 10 Eared Grebe 53 Western Grebe 2294 Clark's Grebe 26 Shearwaters Northern Fulmar Shearwater 0 Black-vented Shearwater 123 Pelicans Brown Pelican 871 Cormorants Double-crested Cormorant 476 Brandt's Cormorant 65 Pelagic Cormorant 7 Herons American Bittern 1 Least Bittern* 1 Great Blue Heron 44 Great Egret 41 Snowy Egret 66 Cattle Egret 2 Green Heron 2 Black-crowned Night Heron 74 Swans, Geese, and Ducks Gr. White-fronted Goose 7 Snow Goose* 1 Ross's Goose* 2 Brant* 0 Canada Goose 68 Canada Goose (small race) 0 Wood Duck 4 Green-winged Teal 33 Mallard 335 Northern Pintail 20 Blue-winged Teal* 2 Cinnamon Teal 6 Northern Shoveler 112 Gadwall 78 Eursian Wigeon* 1 American Wigeon 163 Canvasback 11 Redhead 330 Ring-necked Duck 20 Greater Scaup* 0 Lesser Scaup 45 Surf Scoter 42 White-Winged Scoter* 0 Common Goldeneye 1 Bufflehead 92 Hooded Merganser 4 Common Merganser 6 Red-Breasted Merganser 8 Ruddy Duck 303 New World Vultures Turkey Vulture 62 Hawks Osprey* 0 White-tailed Kite 27 Northern Harrier 11 Sharp-shinned Harrier 8 Cooper's Hawk 22 Red-shouldered Hawk 60 Red-tailed Hawk 96 Golden Eagle 1 Falcons American Kestrel 39 Merlin 5 Peregrine Falcon* 475 Quails and Turkeys Wild Turkey 44 California Quail 295 Mountain Quail 0 Rails and Gallinules Virginia Rail 5 Sora 13 Common Moorhen 1 American Coot 134 Plovers Black-bellied Plover 96 Snowy Plover 175 Simipalmated Plover 28 Killdeer 264 Stilts and Avocets Black-necked Stilt 14 American Avocet 2 Sandpipers Greater Yellowlegs 30 Lesser Yellowlegs* 0 Willet 90 Spotted Sandpiper 7 Whimbrel 43 Long-billed Curlew 3 Marbled Godwit 114 Ruddy Turnstone 2 Black Turnstone 27 Sanderling 387 Western Sandpiper 12 Least Sandpiper 113 Dunlin 2 Long-billed Dowitcher 82 Common Snipe 29 Red Phalarope* 0 Jaegers, Gulls and Terns Pomarine Jaeger* 3 Parasitic Jaeger 0 jaeger species 2 Bonaparte's Gull 46 Heermann's Gull 990 Mew Gull 86 Ring-billed Gull 372 California Gull 461 Herring Gull 4 Thayer's Gull* 1 Western Gull 1232 Glaucous-winged Gull 47 Black-legged Kittiwake* 0 Caspian Tern* 0 Royal Tern 25 Forster's Tern 37 Black Skimmer 107 Alcids Common Murre 0 Cassin's Auklet 0 Rhinoceros Auklet 0 Pigeons Rock Dove 1085 Band-tailed Pigeon 256 Spotted Dove 0 Mourning Dove 471 Common Ground-Dove 2 Cuckoos Greater Roadrunner 5 Owls Barn Owl 3 Western Screech Owl 2 Great Horned Owl 6 Northern Pygmy Owl 0 Burrowing Owl 1

Swifts White-throated Swift 0 Hummingbirds Anna's Hummingbird 778 Costa's Hummingbird* 2 Allen's Hummingbird* 2 Selasphorus sp. 2 Kingfishers Belted Kingfisher 15 Woodpeckers Acorn Woodpecker 682 Red-naped Sapsucker* 0 Red-breasted Sapsucker 9 Nuttall's Woodpecker 38 Downey Woodpecker 45 Hairy Woodpecker 9 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 141 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)* 0 Tyrant Flycatchers Black Phoebe 256 Say's Phoebe 37 Tropical Kingbird* 1 Cassin's Kingbird* 18 Larks Horned Lark 0 Jays and Crows Steller's Jay 7 Scrub Jay 773 Yellow-billed Magpie* 4 American Crow 2150 Common Raven 5 Chickadees and Titmice Mountain Chickadee 4 Oak Titmouse 209 Bushtits Bushtit 1672 Nuthatches Red-breasted Nuthatch 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 52 Creepers Brown Creeper 5 Wrens Rock Wren 1 Canyon Wren 10 Bewick's Wren 108 House Wren 36 Winter Wren 3 Marsh Wren 35 Old World Warblers and Thrushes Golden-crowned Kinglet 25 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 694 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 84 Western Bluebird 71 Townsend's Solitaire 3 Hermit Thrush 115 American Robin 938 Varied Thrush 1 Wrentit 140 Thrashers Northern Mockingbird 182 California Thrasher 70 Wagtails and Pipits American Pipit 251 Waxwings Cedar Waxwings 911 Silky Flycatchers Phainopepla 6 Shrikes Loggerhead Shrike 8 Starlings European Starling 1494 Vireos Hutton's Vireo 68 Wood Warblers, Tanagers, and Sparrows Orange-crowned Warbler 144 Nashville Warbler* 4 Yellow Warbler* 2 Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler 3489 Yellow (Myrtle) Warbler 183 Black-th. Gray Warbler* 5 Townsend's Warbler 232 Hermit Warbler* 2 Palm Warbler* 0 Black-and-white Warbler* 1 Common Yellowthroat 219 Wilson's Warbler* 3 Summer Tanager* 1 Western Tanager* 11 Rose-breasted Grosbeak* 0 Black-headed Grosbeak* 1 Spotted Towhee 133 California Towhee 562 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 6 Chipping Sparrow 12 Lark Sparrow 25 Sage Sparrow 0 Savannah Sparrow 120 Fox Sparrow 40 Song Sparrow 205 Lincoln's Sparrow 26 Swamp Sparrow* 1 White-throated Sparrow* 4 Golden-crowned Sparrow 286 White-crowned Sparrow 1297 Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 782 Dark-eyed (Sl.-col.) Junco 2 Dark-eyed (Gr.-head) Junco 0 Blackbirds and Orioles Red-winged Blackbird 265 Tricolored Blackbird 8 Western Meadowlark 372 Brewer's Blackbird 522 Great-tailed Grackle 36 Brown-headed Cowbird 42 Orchard Oriole* 0 Hooded Oriole* 2 Baltimore Oriole* 0 Bullock's Oriole* 5 Scott's Oriole* 1 Finches Purple Finch 58 House Finch 1255 Pine Siskin 92 Lesser Goldfinch 334 Lawrence's Goldfinch 0 American Goldfinch 371 Old World Sparrows House Sparrow 204 Additional Species Short-eared Owl 1 Lewis's Woodpecker 1 Dusky-capped Flycatcher 1 Tree Swallow 5 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 2 Pgymy Nuthatch 1 Mountain Bluebird 1 Lucy's Warbler 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Yellow-breasted Chat 1 Vesper Sparrow 3 Grasshopper Sparrow 2 Rusty Blackbird 1 Grand Total:       208 Species

Count Period Birds

1X   Zone-tailed Hawk

1X   Prairie Falcon

1X   Black-headed Gull

Notes

* Rare, requires written description

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