SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIRD LIST DISCUSSION ARCHIVE 2026

| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September| October | November | December |

Compiled by: Brooke Miller. Please email additions, corrections, or comments to Brooke at idbirds@me.com. Monthly reports are made up of eBird sightings, postings on South Bay Birds, and direct email reports.

Please post all your sightings at southbaybirds@groups.io and/or eBird. You can use eBird to follow first-of-the-year sightings. Due to the fact that not everyone uses eBird, not all sightings will be included, however. To see first-of-the-year sightings in eBird do the following:

  • Click on "Explore Data" at the top of any eBird page

  • Select "Explore a Region"

  • Type in "Santa Clara" and wait for the page to fill it in

  • Select "Current Year" and click "set"

  • Click on "First Seen"

Go back to the Santa Clara County Bird List 2026 or view all the cumulative year lists.

January

We started off 2026 with 169 countable birds seen on January 1, and a total of 206 countable birds for the month of January. The average for January 1st is 158, and the average for the month of January is 202. There were 2 birds that were not ABA-countable in January (see below). Thank you to everyone that birded, and took the time to report birds either on SBB, eBird, or send emails directly to me.

Of the countable 206 birds that were recorded for January, there were 2 birds rated as rarity (6), and 8 birds rated as rarity (5). As a reminder, here is what each rarity code means:

**Rarity Codes:
1 = common, always seen in habitat in season.
2 = fairly common, usually in habitat in season, but missed sometimes.
3 = uncommon, always around, but sometimes you can't find.
4 = rare, occurs yearly in the county, but not always in same places.
5 = very rare, does not occur every year.
6 = casual or vagrant, generally fewer than 10 records.

Rarity Code 6’s for January 2026:

  1. Black Oystercatcher (6), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, at Shoreline Lake, seen by multiple observers

  2. Pelagic Cormorant (6), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, in Salt Pond A8 but seen from Alviso Slough Trail, seen by multiple observers

Rarity Code 5’s for January 2026:

  1. Black Rail (5), hidden date, location, and observer – ‘sensitive species’

  2. Pacific Golden-Plover (5), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, along the entrance road to Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge in Alviso, seen by multiple observers

  3. Red-naped Sapsucker (5), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, at Joseph D Grant County Park, seen by Brooke Miller

  4. Brewer’s Sparrow (5), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, in Ann Verdi’s backyard

  5. Vesper Sparrow (5), 2026-01-01, continuing from 2025, at the Calera Creek Trail gate at Ed Levin County Park, seen by Garrett Lau and Dave Weber

  6. Clay-colored Sparrow (5), 2026-01-07, at TJ Martin Park, found by Garrett Lau

  7. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (5), 2026-01-20, at Vasona Lake County Park, found by Dave Weber

  8. Townsend’s Solitaire (5), 2026-01-28, at Mt Umunhum, found by Dani Christensen.

The 2 ABA non-countable bird for January were:

  1. Mute Swan, 2026-01-02, continuing from 2025, in Salt Pond A18, by Garrett Lau

  2. Scaly-breasted Munia, 2026-01-04, seen by Heba A, at Almaden Lake Park

My monthly reports are made up of eBird sightings, postings on south-bay-birds, and direct emails. The monthly cumulative lists are archived on the SCVBA website at https://scvbirdalliance.org/sc-county-cumulative-year-lists. Please post all your sightings to: south-bay-birds@groups.io or to www.ebird.org .

Please contact me if you find errors or omissions, or have questions or comments.

Brooke Miller

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February

I missed 1 bird in January, a Common Poorwill, in the Santa Cruz Mountains found by Dani Christensen, on 2026-01-23. That increased our January total from 206 to 207.

We had 10 ABA countable birds found in February, bring the total countable birds for the year so far to 217. The average number of birds found in February is 9, and the average at the end of February is 211. Thank you to everyone that birded, and took the time to report birds either on SBB, eBird, or send emails directly to me.

The 10 new birds found in February were:

  1. American Bittern (4), 2026-02-01, found at 3 separate locations (Coast Casey Forebay, Grant Lake, and Sunnyvale WPCP East Pond, by multiple observers

  2. Lesser Black-backed Gull (5), found by Marty Freeland at Salt Pond A13, on 2026-02-04

  3. Sanderling (4), 2026-02-04, found by Marty Freeland at Salt Pond A13

  4. Cassin’s Kingbird (4), seen by Garrett Lau on 2026-02-09, along San Felipe Rd

  5. Ring-necked Pheasant (4), seen by Garrett Lau on 2026-02-13, at Harvey Marsh

  6. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (2), seen by Dave Weber on 2026-02-17, at Ed Levin County Park-Spring Valley area

  7. Common Murre (5), found by Aaron Srugis on Salt Pond A3W on 2026-02-19

  8. Red-necked Grebe (5), found by Eve Meier on Chesbro Reservoir on 2026-02-20

  9. Glaucous Gull (4), found by Garrett Lau on Salt Pond A13, on 2026-02-24

  10. Rufous Hummingbird (3), found on 2026-02-27, by Abhinav Saha, at his residence near N De Anza Blvd and Highway 280

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March

In March we added 15 new countable birds, bringing the total to 232 at the end of the month. The average for March is 13 new birds, with an average of 224 at the end of the month. Thank you to everyone who birded, and took the time to report birds either on SBB, eBird, or send emails directly to me.

Here are the birds that were found in March:

  1. Black-headed Grosbeak (1), 2026-03-02, found by Edward Rooks and Chazz Hesselein at Calero County Park—Casa Loma Rd entrance

  2. Hooded Oriole (2), 2026-03-08, seen by Mike Danzenbaker in his yard in Mountain View

  3. Western Warbling Vireo (2), 2026-03-09, found by Chris Overington at Joseph D Grant County Park

  4. Western Flycatcher (1), 2026-03-11, found by Janna Pauser along the Calero Creek Trail

  5. Bullock’s Oriole (1), 2026-03-12, found by Janna Pauser along Fortini Rd

  6. Wilson’s Warbler (1), 2026-03-13, found by Connor Christensen from his balcony in San Jose

  7. Western Kingbird (2), 2026-03-13, found by Karen Rush and Linda Pors at Sunnyvale Baylands Park—NE Pond

  8. Vermilion Flycatcher (6), 2026-03-14, found by multiple observers at Joseph D Grant County Park

  9. Caspian Tern (2), 2026-03-14, seen by multiple observers at Palo Alto Baylands

  10. Vaux’s Swift (3), 2026-03-14, seen by Josiah Parris flying over the pond at Almaden Expressway and Highway 85

  11. Cassin’s Vireo (2), 2026-03-18, heard by John Scharpen along Sanborn Rd

  12. Black-throated Gray Warbler (3), 2026-03-22, found by Naomi Goodman at Mt Umunhum

  13. Lazuli Bunting (2), 2026-03-24, found by Mike Mammoser and Mike Rogers, along San Antonio Valley Rd at road marker 6

  14. Ash-throated Flycatcher (2), 2026-03-26, found by Brooke Miller at Joseph D Grant County Park

  15. Red-throated Loon (4), 2026-03-29, found by Ryan G in Salt Pond A2W

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April

Before I report on April, there were 2 birds missed in prior months. On 27-February was the first sighting of Cliff Swallow (1) by Amber Salt at Los Gatos Creek County park and Oka Ponds; On 28-March Sarah Chan found a Nashville Warbler (4) at Rancho Canada del Oro OSP.

In April we added 18 new countable birds, bringing the total to 252 at the end of the month. The average for April is 20 new birds, with an average of 245 at the end of the month. Thank you to everyone who birded, and took the time to report birds either on SBB, eBird, or send emails directly to me.

Here are the birds that were found in April:

  1. Calliope Hummingbird (4), 3-April, found by Chris Johnson along the Penitencia Creek Trail

  2. White-faced Ibis (4), 3-April, found by Mike Rogers and Michael Mammoser along the entrance road to Don Edwards NWR

  3. Ruddy Turnstone (5), 4-April, found by Mike Rogers, Michael Mammoser, and Richard Jeffers, at the Stevens Creek delta

  4. Hammond’s Flycatcher (4), 6-April, seen by Brooke Miller at Smith Creek Fire Station

  5. Swainson’s Thrush (2), 7-April, seen by Mike Danzenbaker in his home yard

  6. Brandt’s Cormorant (6), 7-April, seen by Liz Frith at Shoreline Lake

  7. Olive-sided Flycatcher (3), 9-April, heard by Tristan Yoo at the Lower Saddle at Loma Prieta

  8. Common Loon (4), 9-April, found by Andrew Bradshaw at Uvas Reservoir

  9. Purple Martin (4), 9-April, Found by Josh McLaughlin at Vasona Lake County Park

  10. Elegant Tern (3), 17-April, seen by Kirsten Holmquist at Sunnyvale WPCP Pond A4

  11. Costa’s Hummingbird (5), 18-April, found by an Ohlone Audubon Group along Mines Road

  12. Gray Flycatcher (5), 19-April, found by Karen Pinckard at McClellan Ranch Preserve

  13. Western Wood-Pewee (2), 19-April, found by Melanie Barnett at Rancho Canada del Oro OSP

  14. Red-necked Phalarope (2), 21-April, found by Susan Weinstein at Charleston Slough/Coast Casey Forebay

  15. Yellow-breasted Chat (4), 21-April, found by Carter Gasiorowski and Connor Christensen at Santa Clara University

  16. Palm Warbler (5), 25-April, found by Julie Rose at Ulistac Natural Area

  17. Yellow-headed Blackbird (5), 28-April, seen by Michael McMaster at Charleston Slough/Coast Casey Forebay

  18. Black-chinned Sparrow (4), 30-April, found by Gena Zolotar at Rancho San Antonio—Chamise Trail.

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May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December