We in Santa Barbara are very lucky to have amazing natural history and birding experts available to present to us monthly. Our programs are usually the fourth Wednesday of the month at Fleischmann Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History unless otherwise noted. The doors open at 6:30pm with programming starting at 7:00pm.
Subscrbe to the SBAS events calendar, learn how on this page.
For program details click on a program title below.
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Program: The Courage of Birds: And the Often Surprising Ways They Survive Winter
Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fleischmann Auditorium,
Santa Barbara Museum Of Natural History
2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA
MAP$5 general admission. Tickets available here and at the door the evening of the event, if still available.
Pete Dunne, recipient of the American Birding Association’s Roger Tory Peterson Award for lifetime achievement in promoting the cause of birds, will describe the various adaptations of North American birds that allow them to survive winter’s hardships. Despite the seasonal life-sapping cold, birds have evolved strategies that meet winter’s challenges head on, driven by the imperative to make it to spring and pass down their genes to the next generation. Dunne will discuss unique migration patterns and survival strategies of individual species as well as address the impact of changing climatic conditions on avian longevity.
Pete Dunne is an author and founder of the World Series of Birding, former Director of Natural History Information for the New Jersey Audubon Society, and former director of the Cape May Bird Observatory. An experienced tour leader, he is well-known for his columns and contributions to publications such as American Birds and Birding. He is also the author of more than twenty books, including Birds of Prey, Gulls Simplified, The Art of Pishing, The Wind Masters, and, most recently, The Shorebirds of North America.
Courtesy of Chaucer’s Bookstore, books by Pete Dunne will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Image credit: David Allen Sibley
This Program is Presented by:
Santa Barbara Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
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Program: Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers (illustrated)
Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Fleischmann Auditorium,
Santa Barbara Museum Of Natural History
2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara, CA
MAP$5 general admission. Tickets available here and at the door the evening of the event, if still available.
Back by popular demand following his outstanding presentation in May of 2025 on North American Owls, acclaimed photographer Paul Bannick’s new program will focus on the woodpeckers of North America. One of the most remarkable bird species found in the avian world, woodpeckers have evolved in ways that make them ecologically critical to forest health, serving as keystone species in a variety of wooded habitats across the continent. Their distinctive drumming sounds out a familiar rhythm, while their presence supports a myriad of birds and animals making them catalysts of diversity in the places they inhabit. They are, in many ways, the heartbeat of the forest.
