Tag archives: birding

As we go to press, Libby Patten, head ofthe Santa Barbara Christmas Bird Count (CBC) reports 178 species of birds were found in our National Audubon designated area, including rare species of Brant, Caspian Tern, and Black-legged Kittiwake.  Volunteer birders were out over the course of seven days counting birds in extreme weather conditions, which […]

Daniel Giraud Elliot was the preeminent American ornithologist of the late 19th century. He was a founder of the American Museum of Natural History and later served as curator of zoology at the Field Museum in Chicago. Using his personal fortune, he published lavishly illustrated books on birds and animals. The illustrations were executed first […]

I was on an early morning beach run in Carpinteria, pink and orange hues melding across the eastern horizon. While weaving my way in soft sand past wintering killdeer and western snowy plovers, those hardy shorebirds thoroughly enjoyed the wrack lines of tattered giant bladder kelp left behind by the previous high tide. Later that […]

The best time to join the Santa Barbara Audubon Society is at its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), where anyone from hobbyist to serious ornithologist can contribute data locally that is then forwarded nationally to track the various bird species, their migratory paths, and population findings. Birds have long been regarded as a barometer for […]