sbcobirding.com

Dedicated to the avifauna of Santa Barbara County

Species The Santa Barbara County Bird List contains more than 500 bird species. This list is updated when new birds have been recorded in the county, or when CA Bird Records Committee decisions and taxonomic updates are published. 

 Discussion Send and receive birding reports, read announcements about local rarities, and participate in general discussion through the sbcobirding forum. This group is open to everyone with an interest in county birding. 

 eBird Data eBird is a real-time, online checklist program that has revolutionized the way birders report and access information about birds. Participate in citizen science! Learn more about local birds by exploring the SBA county eBird page links. 

For everything birding in Santa Barbara County:

sbcobirding.com

2021 AOS Supplement The annual checklist supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds is out detailing splits, some new species names, and sequence changes. A good overview of the 2021 supplement is available at this ABA Blog post. 

News & Events

My Condor Bios Learn all about the California Condor recovery program by visiting the My Condor Bios website sponsored by the Ventana Wilderness Society. Condor Spotter will also help you identify condors by their tag numbers in central California, southern California, and Arizona. 

Renaming Eponymous Birds Should bird names be changed to remove eponyms? This is an ongoing debate in the scientific and birding communities. Historically, scientists describing new taxa have recognized the significant contributions of other scientists through eponyms but a cultural shift is underway. 

A Birder’s Guide to

Santa Barbara County

Visit the Birder’s Guide for a listing of popular local birding spots. This guide aligns with the four districts in Paul Lehman’s, The Birds of Santa Barbara County, California, and includes descriptions and eBird Hotspot links. 

Santa Barbara County boasts a rich diversity of bird life and there are many places to explore. Where the Birds Are

eBird RBA The eBird Rare Bird Alert displays observations of rarities in Santa Barbara County over the past seven days. Reports include un-reviewed and reviewed/validated sightings. 

Rare Bird Photos You can find many rare bird photos at the Rare Birds of Santa Barbara County photo pool at Flickr. Images in the pool have been shared by local and visiting birders. Contribute yours! 

SB Breeding Bird Study The Santa Barbara County Breeding Bird Study (BBS) provides a database of accounts of breeding bird records in the county. You can contribute your own records at this website link: 

County Statistics

Total

Species

The Santa Barbara County Bird Checklist has surpassed the 500 species milestone.

eBird

Hotspots

As suggested by birders, eBird Hotspots are the “better” places to go birding in the county.

Big Day

Record

A dedicated trio recorded a record setting 193 species in a single day on April 25, 2008.

400 Club

A field of 19 make up the 400 Club. You can participate in this “non- competitive” listing game. Join in!

453

504

193

Recent Rarities

Email sbcobirding@protonmail.com

Webmaster Jamie Chavez

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 sbcobirding This website was created as a resource for everything birding in Santa Barbara County. The goal is simply to promote the activity of field birding in the county and to provide information to interested birders. If you have comments about this website or would like more information about local birding, please contact me.

sbcobirding receives the generous support of the Santa Barbara Audubon Society. For more than 50 years SBAS has helped to preserve the biological diversity of the Santa Barbara area.