Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
A Tool to Monitor our Locally Breeding Birds
Presented by Mark Holmgren and Adrian O’Loghlen
Female Purple Martin with brood patch – Glenn Kincaid
The Santa Barbara County Breeding Bird Study (BBS) is a database of Santa Barbara County avian breeding sightings. The BBS currently contains more than 5,500 records of sightings. Adrian and Mark will present a detailed description of the timing and distribution of breeding activities of the common breeding species. They will demonstrate how these records can be used for scientific and conservation purposes.
The strength of this effort is greatly improved through continued data gathering, expanding the geographic coverage and increasing the span of years covered. Last year alone 764 new records were submitted to the data base. This year Adrian and Mark are hoping for over 1000 new submittals. A new and easy online method for submitting a breeding record is key to achieving this target, and a demonstration of this procedure will be presented.
It’s fun running into other birders at Devereux Slough.
Adrian O’Loghlen got his PhD in Behavioral Ecology from UCSB based on research of song dialects in Brown-headed Cowbirds. His post-doctoral research from the University of Washington, Seattle, was on the function of song variation in Song Sparrows. Adrian taught numerous classes at UCSB and UW on the evolution of animal behavior and social behavior in particular. Studying and watching birds are his primary past times.
Mark Holmgren was curator of the Vertebrate Collections at UCSB’s CCBER from 1984 to 2010. Mark birds, travels, and with Adrian coordinates the SB County Breeding Bird Study. Also for SB Audubon, Mark coordinates Kite Watch and serves on the Science and Conservation Committee.
