Email
sbcobirding@protonmail.com
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.
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.
ABA How to Know the Birds
Become a better birder with brief portraits of
North American birds. These friendly, relatable
essays are a celebration of the art, science, and
delights of birding by Birding editor and author
Ted Floyd. Ted guides you through a year of
becoming a better birder, each species
representing another useful lesson:
ABA Code of Ethics
Those involved in Big Day, Big Year contests and
birding in general are encouraged to follow the
ABA Code of Birding Ethics. The ABA Code of
Ethics is a set of principles promoting the welfare
of birds and their environment and advances
ethical birder conduct. Birders should follow this
code while birding.
County Listers
“Birding, after all, is just a game. Going beyond that is what is important”
-Roger Tory Peterson
sbcobirding © copyright 2024
400 Club
Do you keep a Santa Barbara County life list? Here you can participate in a “non-competitive” game of sharing your county list total with others.
If you have at least 375 species on your county list your name can be added to the Listers page. Just provide your current total along with a few
comments describing any memorable hits and misses and you will be included. A total of 400 is a milestone worthy of special recognition and
participants become members of the exclusive "400 CLUB" - a pinnacle of birding accomplishments. Contact the webmaster to be included and
to report updates.
193 Species
The record setting team of Mark Billings, Wes Fritz and Peter Gaede observed 193 species in a single day on April 25,
2008 winning them the virtual “Lehman Cup.” The long- standing record of 177 species was recorded on May 3, 1977 by
the team of Bevier, Lehman, McGreggor and Schram. Read the complete winning Big Day report here:
Big Day Record
358 Species
A remarkable Big Year record was established in 2008 by Wes Fritz when he recorded a total of 358 species by the end of December breaking a
previous Big Year record set in 2000. “By February, I was committed to this task.” Wes had many highs and lows during the year-long quest and
you can read his complete report here:
Big Year Record
ABA Checklist
The ABA Checklist includes species found in the
ABA Area which are breeding species, regular
visitors, casual and accidental species from other
regions that are believed to have strayed here
unrestrained by humans, and well-established
introduced species that are now part of our
avifauna.
Discover great birding on the California coast
eBird RBA
latest county rarities
