Preliminary results of the 121st CBC
January 3rd, 2021
Greetings birders,
Thanks to all who participated in yesterday’s Santa Barbara CBC—for following Audubon’s protocols, and mostly for starting the new year off with a dose of much-needed birding good news and virtual fellowship.
Now we begin the work of corralling all the data! Attention eBirders: please don’t forget to share your checklists with sb-cbc in eBird. And for all who participated, if you haven’t already, please send your data and participant forms (Word or other) to your compiler as soon as possible so we can get to work.
To quickly recap the results: we ended the evening somewhere around 205 species, which is of course a preliminary total. Some of the highlights have been posted by others to this list, and please share here if you have more. I will post a more detailed account in a few days when we’ve had a chance to comb through the data. It was a memorable day—on many levels. Thank you to Santa Barbara Audubon and the talented birding community for supporting the effort!
Rebecca Coulter
SB CBC Compiler
Watch The Compilation Event
Count week is here!
January 1st, 2019
Today marks the beginning of Count Week, which includes the three days prior to (January 1-3) and three days after (January 5-7) CBC day. Species seen during these six days but not seen on CBC day are still very important to gathering a truer picture of the bird species around our area right now. Please report your sightings of any birds on The List page of this site either through eBird, sbcobirding or by letting the CBC compilers know by emailing us at: email hidden; JavaScript is required. Thanks and good luck!
120th CBC is coming up!
October 23rd, 2019
Howdy, birders! Greetings to all from the CBC team. Audubon’s 120th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is coming soon with the Santa Barbara CBC to be held on Saturday, January 4, 2020. We encourage everyone to start getting out and scouting for the birds on The List page of this site. While this list hasn’t been updated for this year, many of the less common species remain the same each CBC. With the good rainfall last spring, it will be interesting to see how that affects bird numbers and diversity for this CBC. We’ll be back soon with more information. Enjoy your scouting missions in the meantime…
119th CBC is nearly here!
December 24th, 2018
Greetings to everyone from the CBC team!
You’re probably busy with holiday gatherings, but don’t forget that the 119th count (Saturday, 5 January) is almost here! We would really appreciate any scouting missions you can do between now and then. As for all CBCs, it’s exciting and helpful if you find and report rarities, but we have another concern this year as well. With recent years of drought and the devastating fires of the last year, it’s unclear how this loss of habitat has impacted the populations of common species. A number of folks have reported recently that they’re seeing fewer warblers, waterfowl, orioles and sparrows (especially young ones). So we hope you can help by checking out your neighborhoods or other areas and let us know what you’re seeing and what you’re NOT seeing in terms of the expected common species.
Let us know if you find anything noteworthy!
Here are a few places that could use some scouting:
Rocky Nook Park
Riviera parks
Montecito parks
San Marcos Foothills
Harbor and beaches
Arroyo Burro Creek
Douglas Family Preserve
Stow Grove
UCSB and SBCC campuses
Girsh Park “ditch” (briefly home to a Northern Waterthrush two years ago)
Other Isla Vista and Goleta hotspots
La Cumbre Peak environs
Check out “The List” page to get a list of species we’d like you to report to us. We’ve also added some common species that we’d like to you to look for.
Let us know your observations by posting to this page or emailing Libby Patten at: EMAIL ADDRESS TBD.
Yes, Virginia, there will be a CBC!
December 19th, 2017
What a crazy and stressful last two weeks! I remember being a little annoyed when the power went out late on Monday, December 4. Little did any of us realize what we were in for after that. We hope everyone is hanging in there, in whatever way you’ve had to adjust to deal with this monster, the Thomas Fire. Just wanted to confirm that, yes, there will be a Santa Barbara CBC, and it will still be on Saturday, December 30th!
This won’t be a typical CBC – some areas might be inaccessible, the habitat in some areas damaged and scouting missions prior to CBC day greatly reduced because of poor air quality and road closures. Even though you might feel less enthusiastic about CBC on one level, it’s ultimately one of the most important CBCs just because of this upheaval. How have the birds responded? Where are they, how many and so forth. By participating, you will help to document what might be a revealing blip in the data for our bird communities. And hopefully, getting out for CBC will shake off some of the gloom brought on by all this fire, smoke and disruption. Indeed, the obsessive passion of birders to transcend obstacles was demonstrated on December 10, when a big surge in the fire and hideous air quality could not keep us from searching and refinding the rare Le Conte’s Sparrow (first found by Hugh Ranson) at the Bird Refuge. Birding with masks is extra fun with glasses, we found… ?
Getting ready for the 118th count
December 4th, 2017
Greetings to everyone from the CBC team! The holidays are upon us and that means the 118th count, on Saturday, 30 December, is coming fast. We are busy making sure we have volunteers mapped to all of the count sites, but meanwhile we could use your help to get us ready for count day. We obviously don’t know where some of the rarer species might pop up, so we hope you can help by checking out blooming trees and shrubs, fountains, or anyplace with regular water. Let us know if you find anything noteworthy!
When you want to take visitors for a walk or just need to escape the crazy holiday crowds for a while, here are a few places that could use some scouting:
Rocky Nook Park
Riviera parks
Montecito parks
San Marcos Foothills
Harbor and beaches
Arroyo Burro Creek
Douglas Family Preserve
Stow Grove
UCSB and SBCC campuses
Girsh Park “ditch” (briefly home to a Northern Waterthrush two years ago)
Other Isla Vista and Goleta hotspots
La Cumbre Peak environs
Check out “The List” page to get a list of species we’d like you to report to us.
Here’s a beautiful piece that hopefully will inspire you to get out and be rejuvenated by nature.?
It serves as a haunting and hopeful prologue to the documentary, GMO OMG.
117th results put to bed
March 5th, 2017
The end of each February is the National Audubon’s deadline for count results to be submitted by each circle’s compiler(s). We the four compilers of your count are happy to say that we jointly sent off our official numbers last Monday the 27th. Your can see these numbers for yourself under the tab “Latest Count Results”. Thanks to all who make this count a very special one year after year.
I have added a new link to an excel spreadsheet that summarizes data from the “modern era”, those counts from the 62nd through the most recent 117th. (There had been a 20-year lull in conducting counts, so no data from 1942 until 1962.) This page is called “Historical Summary Since the 62nd Count” and the link is also here:
Summary spreadsheet counts 62-117
Is it too soon to announce the date for the 118th count, on December 30, 2017? Safely away from any New Year’s celebrations. Then no counts for calendar year 2018, taking up again on January 5, 2019!
New reporting options for 117th count
December 23th, 2016
Hello all, it’s nice to be indoors today while the rain comes down, perhaps adding some water to our parched landscape when we count in 8 days.
For your convenience we have added 2 new forms on our “Forms” page, which allow for digital input of your species totals, and participant list and effort data. Traditionally, you would download the paper forms, print them, fill them out manually, and then submit them. Now you may now download a Word .docx file that you locally fill out and save electronically, and then attach to an email to us.
For more details see the “Information for Leaders” page. We hope that this makes our mutual efforts easier!
10 Days to go, astronomical info, tides
December 20th, 2016
Hello everyone, it’s December 20 as I write, the eve of the winter solstice, which takes place at 2:44 am on the 21st. By the 31st, count day, sunrise will be at 7:05 am and set at 4:59 pm. Here is how the tides look for the day:
2016-12-31 Sat 3:53 AM PST 2.3 feet Low Tide
2016-12-31 Sat 10:01 AM PST 5.7 feet High Tide
2016-12-31 Sat 5:20 PM PST -0.5 feet Low Tide
Which is to say that the lowest practical tide during daylight would be late afternoon.
The moon will not be a factor in owling. It will be a very young moon, showing as a waxing crescent at around 3–7% illumination and setting soon after the sun on both the 30th and 31st.
Best to You All on Thanksgiving 2016
November 25th, 2016
Hello all of you, greetings from the CBC team as we get ever closer to the 117th count, which will be on Saturday, 31 December, 2016, aka New Year’s Eve. Your day would generally be until afternoon or dusk birding, which does allow for you to party in the evening if that is your desire.
As we did last year, we are not sending out a broadcast email for registration. We are more informally contacting area and site leaders as to the makeup of their teams, and outreaching to the more independent roamers and specialty groups such as owlers and boat people. If you have any questions about this, such as your possible participation or placement, email us at email hidden; JavaScript is required; questions directly relating to the website may be delivered to email hidden; JavaScript is required.
Check with “The List” page to get a list of birds to report to us, unless you already report them to the yahoo users group sbcobirding. And do let us know of any special hot spot of perhaps a water hole or drip, or someone’s feeder area that is accessible.
2015 Changes to our Species Form
December 21st, 2015
Please make sure that on your checklist for our upcoming count the heading reads “SPECIES LIST 2015.” This greatly facilitates our compiling effort the week after the count. There were not many changes from the 2014 list. We took out the line for White-winged Dove as it is not a regular species here. We also eliminated the line “Selasphorus sp.” We would prefer that unless you are positive of a Rufous Hummingbird ID, which would include appropriate documentation, that Allen’s Hummingbird would be the preferred default for this time of year. The Rufous are just too rare to be lumped in with Allen’s as a “spuh” category.
Some results from last year’s Count
November 25th, 2015
The National Audubon Society has released its summaries of the 115th count from last winter. There were a record 2462 circles in all, with over 72,000 observers that tallied over 68 million birds and detected 2106 bird species. Over 100 of these circles were outside the ABA area of the United States and Canada.
For a long time we have had the greatest number of field participants (ie, not including watchers at feeders) in the ABA area contributing to our Santa Barbara count. But this last count we fell one short of Oakland, CA’s 257. Congratulations to Oakland! There were only 6 counts with 200 or more field participants, and more remarkably, only 81, or just over 3%, of the counts that had 100 or more.
The following list are the 10 species that we either had the highest number counted in the ABA area or were tied for the high count:
Heermann’s Gull 1011
Spotted Owl 3
Common Poorwill 2
Acorn Woodpecker 1026 (all-time high!)
Dusky-capped Flycatcher 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 49
Lucy’s Warbler 1, tied with 2 other counts
Grace’s Warbler 1
Orchard Oriole 1, tied with 5 other counts
Bullock’s Oriole 13, tied with 1 other count
Yes, we are working on it….
November 25th, 2015
Preparations for Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), to be held on Saturday, January 2, 2016, are well underway, as compilers Rebecca Coulter, Jared Dawson, Liz Muraoka, and Joan Murdoch work out the hundreds of details required to conduct a bird survey of this scope. Santa Barbara’s CBC usually tops the list for number of participants (although not last year, see the previous post)—fortunately, we are lucky to have such a rich and diverse circle to cover! But as the drought wears on and we dream of rain, tracking where the birds are this season is a challenge. To make planning even more interesting, current projections for a “historically strong” El Nino weather pattern bring the other side of that coin to the forefront! Be careful what you wish for…. Carving up and covering the count circle is a complex puzzle. Finding the right fit for eager birders and adequate coverage for each type of habitat are the keys to our success. Not all birders sign up for a multi-mile mountain hike on Count Day, but how will we cover the vast amount of dense chaparral and steep mountain slopes? Just how many birders are too many in one group? Where do we assign eager beginners, and with which leaders? Do we have all the necessary permissions for private property: the Zoo, the water treatment plants, the reservoirs, the boat donors? How can we best use current technology in our reporting/recording/compiling? These considerations and many more consume the hearts and minds of the compilers in November and December, culminating in the arrival of Count Day and the unexpected surprises it always holds. We take pride as a community not only in the very high numbers of species found annually, but also in the quality of our bird science. We are all having a hand in helping to form a vital picture of wintering avian distribution throughout North America and increasingly in Central and South America. Before the count, you can help us by scouting your neighborhood or anywhere else within the Count Circle for interesting or unusual birds, as listed on the page ‘The List”>The List’.
We are happy to announce a new caterer for our Christmas Bird Count dinner, to be held as per tradition in Fleischmann Auditorium at 6 pm. Our Mexican dinner will be provided by the popular Del Pueblo Cafe, and the menu includes chicken enchiladas verde, cheese enchiladas rojas, salad, rice, beans, chips, and salsa. It’s a BYOB event, so bring your beverage of choice. Water will be provided. You may also bring your own dinner setting, or paper and plastic ware will be provided. Enjoy this relaxing meal with friends and fellow Christmas Bird Count birders, and enjoy hearing reports from the field as our count is compiled.
Also as usual, you are free to bring your own food if that’s your preference. The price for the catered meal is $15, and you will need to sign up for it by December 22, 2015.
