The 2025 Carpinteria Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is in the books, and what a count it was! Perfect weather and cooperative birds meant our 60 participants had a great day of birding, with a final (preliminary) total of a very respectable 160 species, a figure we’ve only reached or exceeded a few times in the 17 years of the count.
Highlights from this year include:
- The continuing Prothonotary (at Cactus Lane) and Grace’s (at Caitlin Circle) Warblers that have been delighting (or frustrating) birders for weeks. Both birds showed up promptly in their expected locations.
- A Burrowing Owl that is wintering on the sandspit near the mouth of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh.
- Two different Tropical Kingbirds, a species we’ve never had on the count before. One was seen by Steve Gaulin and Colette Becker at El Carro Park, and the second was seen by Rob Hofberg and Eric Culbertson at the Loon Point parking on Padaro Lane.
- A beautiful male Broad-billed Hummingbird at a private home in Montecito where the owners were kind enough to open up their backyard to us on count day.
The final number may tick up or down a few species as we go through the documentation process. The preliminary count is visible in our count-day tally spreadsheet; more details are available in the eBird checklists in the count trip report, though the trip report does not currently include all the checklists from the day.
Thanks to everyone who participated! I look forward to another great count next year, when the Carpinteria CBC will take place on Saturday, December 19, 2026.
— John Callender, Carpinteria CBC compiler