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Thank you for subscribing to the <daily> Santa Barbara County Rare Bird Alert. The report below shows observations of rare birds in Santa Barbara County. View or unsubscribe to this alert at https://ebird.org/alert/summary?sid=SN35915 NOTE: all sightings are UNCONFIRMED unless indicated.
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Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina) (4)
- Reported May 20, 2026 10:48 by Lori Gaskin
- Farren Road, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.9237752&<ll...>,-119.9237752 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S343042815 - Comments: "3 in avocado field to east of road on downslope to locked gate. One just north of reservoir (on east side of road). Known locations. Small; scaled breast and neck; pinkish gray head; tan/brown body with darker spots on sides; small bill."
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) (1)
- Reported May 20, 2026 17:13 by Andrea Bruce
- Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.5283666&<ll...>,-119.5283666 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S343124499 - Comments: "Continuing. Foraging slowly along bank and seen in 2 locations - in the nature park near outfall pipe in front of homes and secondly on bank in franklin creek closer to railroad tracks. Small heron, similar in size to a snowy egret. Dark dusty blue- gray in color"
Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) (1)
- Reported May 20, 2026 07:58 by Gregor Yanega
- Las Cruzitas Ranch (restricted access), Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.9600601&<ll...>,-119.9600601 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S342984698 - Comments: "flushed from ground under oak, found a feather- appeared to have long relatively narrow wings, a face disk that appeared a little dark, and brown wing- back, impression of chocolate, darker hue. not a hawk, not a great horned owl."
Bell's Vireo (Least) (Vireo bellii pusillus) (2)
- Reported May 17, 2026 09:05 by Luke Jensen
- BELL'S vireo spot, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.933147&<ll...>,-119.933147 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S342607817 - Media: 1 Video, 8 Photos
- Comments: "Continuing singing male since May 6 mark Holmgren in disturbed habitat off the 101 freeway. Took a while to find because for some reason we were looking in the completely wrong habitat. Found the right habitat an in about 20 minutes heard the bird, this was at about 10:00 AM. Then tracked the bird for 15 minutes until it ran into a male Cooper's hawk which it protested aginst with irrated noises. It stopped singing for a while and I almost gave up on pictures but the cooper's hawk finnaly flew off and the bird started singing again at 10:29 AM. I tracked it down and got a few ok pics. During this time I had seen a bird being chased by the male barely making an appearnce but having the same silouete and size of the bird. later I saw this second bird briefly through the binocs confirming this as a second bell's vireo. It had the double wingbars with the white supercillium and overall drab look. Sadly I was not able to get pictures of this individual. LIFER!"
Bell's Vireo (Least) (Vireo bellii pusillus) (1)
- Reported May 20, 2026 08:00 by Eunice Schroeder
- Calle Real 34.439945, -119.937424, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.93742&<ll...>,-119.93742 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S342939692 - Media: 3 Photos
- Comments: "Continuing, first found by Hannah Cox on 5/5. Heard continual singing at (34.439945, -119.93742), then the bird provided great views from the low vegetation on the north side of the road. After about 15 minutes, it flew to the south side and a short way west. I also heard faint singing further west from the south side at (34.439945, -119.937424) when returning to my car but don’t know whether this was the same individual or a second bird as some have reported. Drab grayish above, paler whitish below with some very faint yellow wash on belly; pale upper eye-arc and pale lores. Photos."
eBird Alerts provide recent reports of regionally or seasonally rare species (Rarities Alerts) or species you have not yet observed (Needs Alerts) in your region of interest; both Accepted and Unreviewed observations are included. Some reports may be from private property or inaccessible to the general public. It is the responsibility of every eBirder to be aware of and respectful of access restrictions. For more information, see our Terms of Use: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/terms-of-use/
