The 125th Annual Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count 2025

The Santa Barbara Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on January 4, 2025. This was part of the 125th National Audubon’s CBC. 

This year the Santa Barbara CBC Team leaders are: 

Libby Patten, Head CBC Compiler and Coordinator/Compiler for North SB and the Boat team; Glenn Kincaid, Scouting Coordinator, Head Data Coordinator, and the Compiler for the Mountain teams; Wim van Dam, Coordinator for the Mountain teams; Linus Blomqvist,Coordinator/Compiler for South Goleta, CBC Web Tool Developer; Conor McMahon,Coordinator/Compiler for South Goleta; Steve Hovey,Coordinator and Compiler for South SB and Montecito; and Andy McGrath,Coordinator/Compiler for North Goleta.

This is an all-volunteer effort. With Patten and the leaders were over 100 volunteers counting birds on land and in the mountain areas, eight volunteers counting night birds, six counting sea birds, and they had ten volunteers from out of town. All the data they amass is part of the national database for the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, and the data is shared globally with universities and research organizations.

For 2025 they counted a total of 213 species, said by Patten to be the highest total in ten years. Rare species found this year were rare flycatchers: Ash-throated, Gray, Western, Vermillion and the Eastern Phoebe; a rare species of the southeastern U.S. Brown Thrasher, and as well a species last seen on the CBC 25 years ago – the Prairie Falcon.

Missing from the count this year were some water birds, including the Caspian Tern.

Demographically, the count area is a 15-mile diameter circle, centered at Hwy 154 and Foothill Road in Santa Barbara. Approximate count circle boundaries are San Ysidro Rd. on the east, Paradise Road on the north, Coronado Road on the west, and a southern boundary 5 miles offshore by boat. The count includes sea birding onboard a boat, as well as night birding with volunteers trained in each type of area.

I always ask Patten and her team how we can support their efforts and birds in our area. She said, “Plant native plants in your garden, don’t use pesticides and put out sources of fresh water.”

Adding her foundational advice for birding enthusiasts and for all of us to support the SB Audubon, Executive Director Katherine Emery provided the following to me via email interview: “Some of the most rewarding aspects about my work as Executive Director of Santa Barbara Audubon Society include connecting with people, connecting people with birds, and protecting birds and their habitats in the Santa Barbara area. One of my favorite events is the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). It’s inspirational to have so many community members get together to count bird species. On sunny January 4th, I joined two birding groups. One of the groups had 30 birders, and it was a first Santa Barbara CBC experience for seven of them. What a fun and friendly way to become involved in doing community science. Afterwards, it’s informative and lively to join at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH) for the annual Compilation Event and Dinner. We share a meal and observations of common and unique birds and tally results of species of birds recorded. Working together, we provide science data to better understand changing trends in bird species locally and across the nation, and then can work to protect birds and their habitats. Thank you, CBC bird walk guides, compilation data and IT leaders, SBAS webmaster, event and dinner organizers, and SBMNH staff for making the 2024 CBC a huge success. The CBC is good for the birds, community, and community science.” 

411: www.santabarbaraaudubon.org