In an effort to provide accurate information to the local birding community, this page details bird species that are considered “reportable” in the county. Taking field notes is a good practice in general, but species listed with an asterisk (*) are considered rare and comments are requested in eBird checklist submissions which include a physical description and photos when available. Additionally, provide a description when announcing to sbcobirding. Consult the California Bird Records Committee Review List for all review species (red text) and submit a sighting through the CBRC website. Read through Paul Lehman’s, The Birds of Santa Barbara County, California for status and distribution information on county birds. Paul’s book is updated annually and is available for download under the Birds link on this website.

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Any (wild) goose except Canada

Trumpeter Swan*

Tundra Swan*

Baikal Teal

Garganey

Eurasian Wigeon

Common (Eurasian) Teal*

Tufted Duck*

Harlequin Duck*

White-winged Scoter

Black Scoter

Long-tailed Duck*

Barrow’s Goldeneye*

Chukar*

Red-necked Grebe*

Ruddy Ground-Dove*

White-winged Dove

Grove-billed Ani*

Yellow-billed Cuckoo*

Common Nighthawk*

E/Mex Whip-poor-will*

Chimney Swift*

Calliope Hummingbird

Broad-tailed Hummingbird*

Broad-billed Hummingbird*

Yellow*/Black*/Ridgway’s Rail*

Sandhill Crane

American Oystercatcher*

American Golden-Plover*

Pacific Golden-Plover

Piping Plover

Wilson’s Plover

Mountain Plover

Upland Sandpiper

Bar-tailed Godwit*

Ruff*

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper*

Stilt Sandpiper*

Curlew Sandpiper

Red-necked Stint

Buff-breasted Sandpiper*

Semipalmated Sandpiper

South Polar Skua

Long-tailed Jaeger

Marbled Murrelet

Guadalupe Murrelet

Craveri's Murrelet

Ancient Murrelet*

Parakeet Auklet*

Horned/Tufted Puffin*

Black-headed Gull

Little Gull*

Laughing Gull*

Franklin's Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull*

Glaucous Gull

Gull-billed Tern*

Common Tern

Arctic Tern

tropicbird (any)*

Yellow-billed Loon

albatross (any, BF in SB channel)

Wilson's Storm-Petrel*

Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel*

Townsend’s Storm-Petrel

Least Storm-Petrel*

petrel* (any Pterodroma sp.)

Short-tailed Shearwater*

Flesh-footed Shearwater*

Manx Shearwater*

Wood Stork*

Magnificent Frigatebird*

booby (any)*

Neotropic Cormorant*

American Bittern

Least Bittern

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Reddish Egret

Western Cattle Egret

Yellow-crowned Night Heron*

White Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

California Condor*

Black Vulture

Northern Goshawk*

Bald Eagle

Mississippi Kite

Gray Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk*

Swainson's Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk*

Rough-legged Hawk*

Any owl other than Barn, Great Horned

and Western Screech-Owl

Red-headed Woodpecker

Williamson's Sapsucker*

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker

White-headed Woodpecker

Crested Caracara

Dusky-capped Flycatcher*

Great Crested Flycatcher

Brown-crested Flycatcher*

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird*

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher*

Greater Pewee

Any empidonax flycatcher other than

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe*

Vermilion Flycatcher

All vireos except Hutton's, Warbling

and Cassin's

Pinyon Jay*

Clark’s Nutcracker*

Verdin*

Bank Swallow

Dusky Warbler

Bohemian Waxwing*

Winter Wren

Sedge Wren

Gray Catbird*

Brown Thrasher*

Bendire's Thrasher*

Sage Thrasher

American Dipper

Wood Thrush

wagtail (any)

Red-throated Pipit*

Sprague's Pipit*

Evening Grosbeak*

Red Crossbill

Any longspur*

Cassin's Sparrow

Lark Bunting*

Clay-colored Sparrow

"Red" Fox Sparrow*

American Tree Sparrow*

Harris's Sparrow*

Sagebrush Sparrow*

LeConte’s Sparrow

Nelson's Sparrow*

"Large-billed" Savannah Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Green-tailed Towhee

Bobolink

Orchard Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Scott’s Oriole

Rusty Blackbird*

Common Grackle*

Any "eastern" wood-warbler

(e.g., Black-and-white, Am Redstart)

Any "southwestern" wood-warbler

(e.g., Lucy's, Virginia’s, Grace's)

Hepatic*, Summer, and Scarlet* tanagers

Pyrrhuloxia

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Varied Bunting

Painted Bunting*

Dickcissel*