Science

The Science Committee strives to increase knowledge of local wildlife and ecosystems through data collection, compilation, and analysis. The Committee promotes Citizen Science in our community and schools. The Science Committee directs Santa Barbara Audubon Society’s Tree Swallow nest box monitoring and participates in other community studies, including the Bird Breeding Study and the Christmas Bird Count.

Breeding Bird Study

The Breeding Bird Study is an account of breeding bird records in Santa Barbara County. As of 30 Nov 2019 there are close to 181 breeding species among more than 8000 breeding records in the database. Read More or Submit Data

Christmas Bird Count

Every year, around the time of Christmas, people all over the nation and many other countries go out on their chosen day to count their local birds. Read More

The Conservation and Science Committees meet jointly on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 PM Zoom.

For further information contact Science@SantaBarbaraAudubon.org



SBAS Science – A 2019 Summary

2019 continued to be a busy year for our small but dedicated Science committee led by Steve Senesac. Below is a brief summary of the programs they are working on.

Post-drought Progress Report

Submitted by Mark Holmgren This is an update on the post-drought progress towards recovery of White-tailed Kites in the Goleta Valley. We are approaching the middle of the Kite breeding period. Recall that last year we had only two breeding events—at western More Mesa and western Ellwood Mesa. In 2015, we also had only two…. Read more »

Breeding Bird Study of Santa Barbara County

by Adrian O’Loghlen [Editor’s note: This is the full article referred to on page 3 of El Tecolote September-November 2016.] One of the most informative approaches for assessing how the rapid and extensive development of urban and rural lands affects local bird populations is to monitor the breeding activity of species that have historically bred… Read more »

Youth scholarships available from WFO

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Western Field Ornithologists is pleased to announce the availability of a youth scholarship for the WFO 2016 Conference to be held in Humboldt County, California from September 28th through October 2nd. The scholarship is open to youths between the ages of 12 and 22, with six scholarships for youths in Grades 6 through 12, and… Read more »

The SBAS Tree Swallow Nest Box Project

Air BNB Audubon Style By Steven Senesac [Editor’s note: This is the full article referred to on page 3 of El Tecolote April/May 2016.] Introduction The Tree Swallow is a cavity nester that naturally nests in tree cavities (often made by woodpeckers). Human development frequently removes many trees and those that remain are often groomed… Read more »