SANTA BARBARA BIRDERS PROBABLE SECOND IN NATION WITH EXCITING CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT! by Joan E. Lentz, January 2004 Santa Barbara Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count, held January 3, 2004, turned up some terrific birds and totalled an amazing species count of 208! That number could be enough for second place in the nationwide friendly rivalry between our Count and those in south Texas. The traditional frontrunner, Mad Island Marsh, had a total of 230 species this year, and Freeport, Texas, which often comes in second, had only 205 species. Looks like Santa Barbara has a good shot at being Number Two! The highlight of this Bird Count centered around two highly unusual birds tallied on Count Day: a Verdin, a bird normally found in interior deserts, and a Williamson's Sapsucker, a bird normally found in montane coniferous forests. Only in Santa Barbara could you chance upon two birds from such opposite extremes! Both were new bird species to the Christmas Count, and the Verdin was an entirely new species never before seen in our county. Eurasian Wigeon. Photo courtesy MIke Collins. The cold, dry weather leading up to the Count spelled disaster for numbers of waterfowl and other waterbirds (ducks and geese were way off). The lack of rainfall explained lower waterbird figures, but did not shed light on the widespread decline - in comparison to recent years - of numbers of sparrows, along with waxwings and robins. There were fewer owls. And the montane species, those birds that venture down from the mountains to forage in the lowlands, were at an all-time low. Not a single Pine Siskin turned up anywhere, in contrast to recent years. Bucking the trend was the record high number of Long-billed Curlews on the Count: a total of 38. Snowy Plovers, too, were at a high level with 305 individuals at Sands Beach at Devereux Slough.

Mallards, Northern Pintail and Northern Shoveler at Devereaux. Photo courtesy Callie Bowdish.

Despite the difficulties outlined above, wonderful birds were uncovered within the Count circle. Some were "stake outs", those birds that we knew about beforehand, others were unexpected. A Eurasian Wigeon was at Coal Oil Point Reserve. The Zone-tailed Hawk (returning for its 11th winter in Goleta) was spotted soaring over North Fairview Ave. A Tropical Kingbird was at Glen Annie Golf Course. Two Cassin's Vireos and a Chestnut-backed Chickadee turned up near Atascadero Creek in Goleta. A Harris's Sparrow was in a flock of White-crowned Sparrows at Elings Park on the Mesa. The Verdin was in the foothills at the base of San Marcos Pass. The Williamson's Sapsucker was in pine trees on the UCSB Campus. And a Hooded Oriole and a Pacific-slope Flycatcher were found in Montecito.

A couple of Black-headed Grosbeaks appeared at backyard feeders to be counted. A Red-naped Sapsucker was spotted in a pepper tree opposite the Kellogg Ave. tennis courts. An unusually high number (23) of Barn Swallows flew overhead on Count Day, along with a flock of 5 American White Pelicans.

As always, the spirit of enthusiasm and cooperation among the birding community was high! This monster Count is not possible without the following people: Chris Walden, who skillfully helps place the folks that have signed up and handles an enormous amount of paperwork and e-mailing; the Compilation Committee, which consists of Dave Compton, Rebecca Coulter, and George Roland; and all the leaders and scouters and other birders, who just offered to do all they could to make the Count successful.

The potluck dinner at Fleischmann Auditorium at the Museum of Natural History was filled to capacity. The crowd gave a standing ovation to Karen Bridgers, who was recognized by Santa Barbara Audubon Society with a plaque for her contribution as editor of Santa Barbara's Rare Bird Alert over the years, and for the many birding columns she has written for the Santa Barbara News-Press. Congratulations, Karen!

What a great day. Next time you run into a friend who asks you how the Christmas Bird Count went this year, you can tell them it was just super!

Christmas Bird Count Contacts

SBAS Christmas Bird Count Totals
January 3, 2004

Please note, these counts are "unofficial." For official results, please see the Audubon Science web page a little later in the year.

Loons Red-throated Loon 3 Pacific Loon 17 Common Loon 13 loon species 19 Grebes Pied-billed Grebe 127 Horned Grebe 13 Eared Grebe 38 Western Grebe 202 Clark's Grebe 1 Shearwaters Northern Fulmar Shearwater 4 Black-vented Shearwater 6 Pelicans Brown Pelican 279 Cormorants Double-crested Cormorant 414 Brandt's Cormorant 16 Pelagic Cormorant 14 Herons American Bittern 0 Least Bittern* 0 Great Blue Heron 50 Great Egret 28 Snowy Egret 35 Cattle Egret 3 Green Heron 4 Black-crowned Night Heron 102 Swans, Geese, and Ducks Gr. White-fronted Goose 0 Snow Goose* 0 Ross's Goose* 2 Brant* 0 Canada Goose 108 Canada Goose (small race) 0 Wood Duck 5 Green-winged Teal 20 Mallard 343 Northern Pintail 20 Blue-winged Teal* 4 Cinnamon Teal 15 Northern Shoveler 165 Gadwall 52 Eursian Wigeon* 1 American Wigeon 70 Canvasback 12 Redhead 109 Ring-necked Duck 217 Greater Scaup* 4 Lesser Scaup 32 Surf Scoter 126 White-Winged Scoter* 0 Common Goldeneye 3 Bufflehead 137 Hooded Merganser 36 Common Merganser 16 Red-Breasted Merganser 19 Ruddy Duck 244 New World Vultures Turkey Vulture 103 Hawks Osprey* 1 White-tailed Kite 25 Northern Harrier 9 Sharp-shinned Harrier 17 Cooper's Hawk 21 Red-shouldered Hawk 70 Red-tailed Hawk 147 Golden Eagle 0 Falcons American Kestrel 34 Merlin 5 Peregrine Falcon* 2 Quails and Turkeys Wild Turkey 25 California Quail 232 Mountain Quail 1 Rails and Gallinules Virginia Rail 6 Sora 5 Common Moorhen 0 American Coot 921 Plovers Black-bellied Plover 101 Snowy Plover 305 Simipalmated Plover 22 Killdeer 93 Stilts and Avocets Black-necked Stilt 20 American Avocet 2 Sandpipers Greater Yellowlegs 28 Lesser Yellowlegs* 0 Willet 274 Spotted Sandpiper 9 Whimbrel 49 Long-billed Curlew 38 Marbled Godwit 188 Ruddy Turnstone 2 Black Turnstone 12 Sanderling 475 Western Sandpiper 7 Least Sandpiper 187 Dunlin 7 Long-billed Dowitcher 27 Wilson's Snipe 18 Red Phalarope* 0 Jaegers, Gulls and Terns Pomarine Jaeger* 1 Parasitic Jaeger 2 jaeger species 2 Bonaparte's Gull 14 Heermann's Gull 970 Mew Gull 47 Ring-billed Gull 159 California Gull 335 Herring Gull 9 Thayer's Gull* 1 Western Gull 1414 Glaucous-winged Gull 30 Black-legged Kittiwake* 0 Caspian Tern* 2 Royal Tern 14 Forster's Tern 69 Black Skimmer 208 Alcids Common Murre 0 Cassin's Auklet 0 Rhinoceros Auklet 0 Pigeons Rock Dove 946 Band-tailed Pigeon 288 Spotted Dove 4 Mourning Dove 451 Common Ground-Dove 0 Cuckoos Greater Roadrunner 1 Owls Barn Owl 2 Western Screech Owl 3 Great Horned Owl 21 Northern Pygmy Owl 0 Burrowing Owl 0

Swifts White-throated Swift 82 Hummingbirds Anna's Hummingbird 635 Costa's Hummingbird* 2 Allen's Hummingbird* 1 Selasphorus sp. 4 Kingfishers Belted Kingfisher 17 Woodpeckers Acorn Woodpecker 580 Red-naped Sapsucker* 1 Red-breasted Sapsucker 8 Nuttall's Woodpecker 36 Downy Woodpecker 37 Hairy Woodpecker 10 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 136 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)* 0 Tyrant Flycatchers Black Phoebe 242 Say's Phoebe 45 Tropical Kingbird* 1 Cassin's Kingbird* 28 Larks Horned Lark 0 Jays and Crows Steller's Jay 7 Western Scrub Jay 510 Yellow-billed Magpie* 8 American Crow 1278 Common Raven 6 Chickadees and Titmice Mountain Chickadee 1 Oak Titmouse 256 Bushtits Bushtit 1157 Nuthatches Red-breasted Nuthatch 6 White-breasted Nuthatch 40 Creepers Brown Creeper 4 Wrens Rock Wren 0 Canyon Wren 16 Bewick's Wren 127 House Wren 33 Winter Wren 3 Marsh Wren 6 Old World Warblers and Thrushes Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 622 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 77 Western Bluebird 110 Townsend's Solitaire 2 Hermit Thrush 125 American Robin 328 Varied Thrush 2 Wrentit 192 Thrashers Northern Mockingbird 109 California Thrasher 101 Wagtails and Pipits American Pipit 79 Waxwings Cedar Waxwings 506 Silky Flycatchers Phainopepla 4 Shrikes Loggerhead Shrike 21 Starlings European Starling 860 Vireos Hutton's Vireo 84 Wood Warblers, Tanagers, and Sparrows Orange-crowned Warbler 190 Nashville Warbler* 0 Yellow Warbler* 2 Yellow-rumped (Audubon's) Warbler 2182 Yellow (Myrtle) Warbler 79 Black-th. Gray Warbler 7 Townsend's Warbler 151 Hermit Warbler* 2 Palm Warbler* 3 Black-and-white Warbler* 2 Common Yellowthroat 207 Wilson's Warbler* 7 Summer Tanager* 1 Western Tanager* 7 Rose-breasted Grosbeak* 0 Black-headed Grosbeak* 3 Spotted Towhee 181 California Towhee 422 Rufous-crowned Sparrow 4 Chipping Sparrow 2 Lark Sparrow 10 Sage Sparrow 1 Savannah Sparrow 207 Fox Sparrow 37 Song Sparrow 157 Lincoln's Sparrow 48 Swamp Sparrow* 1 White-throated Sparrow* 9 Golden-crowned Sparrow 308 White-crowned Sparrow 958 Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco 362 Dark-eyed (Sl.-col.) Junco 1 Dark-eyed (Gr.-head) Junco 0 Blackbirds and Orioles Red-winged Blackbird 207 Tricolored Blackbird 2 Western Meadowlark 237 Brewer's Blackbird 227 Great-tailed Grackle 47 Brown-headed Cowbird 22 Orchard Oriole* 0 Hooded Oriole* 1 Baltimore Oriole* 1 Bullock's Oriole* 3 Scott's Oriole* 0 Finches Purple Finch 53 House Finch 1435 Pine Siskin 0 Lesser Goldfinch 126 Lawrence's Goldfinch 0 American Goldfinch 446 Old World Sparrows House Sparrow 241 Additional Species American White Pelican 5 white geese sp.? 12 Zone-tailed Hawk 1 Williamson's Sapsucker 1 Hammond's Flycatcher 1 Pacific-slope Flycatcher 1 Cassin's Vireo 2 Barn Swallow 23 Chestnut-backed Chickadee 1 Verdin 1 American Dipper 1 Harris's Sparrow 1 Grand Total:       208 Species

Count Period Birds

2X   Common Ground-Dove

1X   Violet-green Swallow

1X   Nashville Warbler

2X   Scott's Oriole

Notes

* Rare, requires written description

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