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 »
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 in the MacVeagh House of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
For further information contact Science@SantaBarbaraAudubon.org
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 »

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 »
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 »
The 2014 Santa Barbara County Science Fair was held in March, and one of the judges was Richard Figueroa, SBAS Science Chair who had the honor of presenting the Santa Barbara Audubon Award to this year’s winner, Righetti High School senior, Danny Luu. Danny’s project: “The Effects of Runoff on Salvia Leucantha and Hummingbird Interactions” also won a gold medal… Read more »