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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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Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus) (1)
- Reported May 01, 2025 10:15 by Matthew Bell
- CAS Nieuw Amsterdam 2025 2.5, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-121.879505&<ll...>,-121.879505 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S231824668 - Comments: "34.85388° N, 121.99289° W. Spotted by David M., first on water and then high above where it eventually flew over the boat. Snappy wing beats with black primaries, long tail, and red bill. Photos by many"
Tyrannus with bright yellow belly, green back, forked tail, big bill. Maybe one of the two that seems to have wintered around here."
Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) (1)
- Reported May 01, 2025 09:59 by Toby Fowler
- Mesa Rd. at Los Carneros Rd.--SW, Santa Barbara, California
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&<q...>,-119.86055&<ll...>,-119.86055 - Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S231742199 - Comments: "Tyrannus with bright yellow belly, green back, forked tail, big bill. Actively flycatching in the big tree at the corner (34.421673, -119.860327). Maybe one of the two that seems to have wintered around here.
Because their movement northwards is so recent, I wonder if there is any data on those individual's migration patterns. They seem to clear out of the county by early May, but I wonder if we get any northern individuals passing through on their way back down to their breeding range. According to Ebird's status and trends data, the only consistent population north of here is the bay area (and maybe some up in Oregon), so I wonder where those birds travel through. The Oregon birds seem to be early migrants down.
Regardless, it's cool that we get a neotropic breeder, so that its migration is the reverse of all our other species!"
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