Date: 1/1/26 3:27 pm From: Thomas Benson via groups.io <tbenson...> Subject: [inlandcountybirds] Southeastern CA RBA: January 1, 2026
RBA
* California
* Southeastern
* January 1, 2026
* CASE26.01.01
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This is the Southeastern CA weekly RBA summary. We cover Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. California Bird Records Committee review species are denoted by asterisks. To report a bird POST TO INLANDCOUNTYBIRDS (https://groups.io/g/inlandcountybirds). If there is some reason that you cannot post there, please e-mail or call/text Tom Benson at <tbenson...> or (909) 648-0899.
Birds mentioned:
Red-throated Loon
Least Flycatcher
*THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD*
Tropical Kingbird
Steller's Jay
Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
*CAVE SWALLOW*
*CHIHUAHUAN MEADOWLARK*
Black-throated Blue Warbler
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
A *THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD* continued at Bellevue Memorial Park through Dec 28 (Elliott Steinfels).
A *THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD* continued in Alta Loma through Dec 29 (Tom Benson).
A BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER continued at Chino Creek Wetlands through Jan 1 (Jhoneil Centeno).
RIVERSIDE COUNTY
A RED-THROATED LOON continued at Lake Perris through Dec 27 (Kathy Snyder).
A LEAST FLYCATCHER was seen at Palo Verde Ecological Reserve Dec 21-30 (Adrian Hinkle).
A TROPICAL KINGBIRD was seen at Demuth Park on Dec 28 (Stephen Spector).
Two STELLER'S JAYS of the "Southwestern Interior" group continued at Palo Verde Ecological Reserve through Dec 30 (Elliott Steinfels).
A WOODHOUSE'S SCRUB-JAY continued at Palo Verde Ecological Reserve through Jan 1 (Naresh Satyan).
IMPERIAL COUNTY
Up to nine *CAVE SWALLOWS* continued at the Earthrise Nutritionals algae farm in Calipatria through Dec 31 (Emmett Iverson).
A *CHIHUAHUAN MEADOWLARK* continued in Bard through Dec 27 (Lucas Corneliussen).
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Birds included in this weekly summary are those that are considered casual or of less than annual occurrence in San Bernardino, Riverside, or Imperial Counties, or in some cases regionally within these areas. If you do find or see something of interest, whether it be a geographical or seasonal rarity, evidence of local range expansion, or a novel breeding record, I'd recommend sharing that information with the CBRC, North American Birds subregional editors, or regional listservs as appropriate. Information for contacting these entities is available below.
Please submit your documentation of all California Bird Records Committee review species (denoted by asterisks) to CBRC Secretary Tom Benson at <secretary...> or via the CBRC website: https://www.californiabirds.org/report_sighting.html
CBRC review species and birds of local or seasonal rarity should be reported to the North American Birds (https://www.aba.org/north-american-birds/) county coordinators. They are:
IMPERIAL COUNTY: Guy McCaskie, <guymcc...>
INYO COUNTY: Chris and Rosie Howard, <chris93514...>
KERN COUNTY: Kelli Heindel-Levinson, <kkheindel...>
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: David Rankin, <david.rankin...>
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: Alexander E. Koonce, <sandy_koonce...>
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Other dying birding listservs that occasionally include reports of birds in southern California are:
A schedule of San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society field trips is available on the SBVAS website at https://www.sbvas.net/field-trips
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Bird status and distribution references that every southeastern California birder should own:
Birds of southern California: status and distribution (1981), by Kimball L. Garrett and Jon L. Dunn
Birds of the Salton Sea: status, biogeography, and ecology (2003), by Michael A. Patten, Guy McCaskie, and Philip Unitt (update: https://archive.westernfieldornithologists.org/archive/V56/56(2)-p126-p142.pdf)
Birds of the Lower Colorado River Valley (1991), by Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Robert D. Ohmart, William C. Hunter, and Bertin W. Anderson
