Escondido Christmas Bird Count Dec. 27, 2025
Seventy-nine birders in twenty-five teams participated in the Escondido CBC on December 27. We logged a total of 137 species, a rather low count for this circle (we recorded our high count of 160 species just three years ago). Key gaps in our list were waterbirds, especially sandpipers (not a single one!), owls (got to get more folks out for the nightbirds), and very few “write-up” birds.
I’ll use initials for observers in the account that follows, which may be matched with the list of participants. A checklist of birds observed on the count will follow some nice photos courtesy of Tim Burr (I’ll let you guess the identity. Shouldn’t be hard).
New species. A very out-of-season Rufous Hummingbird at Kit Carson Park in south Escondido (PL) is a first for the count circle, now running for 41 years. This sighting boosts the cumulative total list for this circle to 237 species, exactly one hundred additional species than recorded this year!
Another rarity. Our only other real rarity, a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, flew over
Dixon Lake in northeast Escondido for only its third count circle appearance (LR, JW).
Not so rare anymore. Three White-winged Doves showed up near Black Canyon Road north of Ramona (TB, KWi). This is the ninth straight year that we have recorded this “desert” dove. Is it a year-round resident or only present in winter? Maybe participants in the California Atlas Project, which just began, will discover the answer.
The Vermilion Flycatcher has long been a rather local bird within the count circle, but this year we hit a record high of eleven individuals recorded by five teams. Locations include singles near Rangeland Road in Ramona (KH, SH), Bandy Canyon (BO, KC, OE), and Old Milky Way roads in the San Pasqual Valley (JB, JC, JH, LT), the Safari Park (SW, CMa, JC, JM, LW), two at Kit Carson Park in Escondido (PL), and a whopping six at the Vineyard (golf course) in Escondido (BM, MF), appropriately observed from a golf cart!
Fairly frequent but “iffy” birds. Two Ross’s Geese disappeared from the Ramona Pond the day before the count, only to reappear near Rangeland Road over five miles to the west on count day (PV, BC, DP, DR, MR, DT; 16th CBC record)
Mountain Quail are present in a number of locations north of Ramona, but are hard to detect until they begin calling in spring or when the rains come. Well, the rains came, and one started “talking” near Black Canyon Road for our 14th record (KWi, TB).
North Pamo Valley produced a a single Dark-eyed Junco of the gray-headed race (CA, SA). Slate-colored and more especially, Oregon are the typical subspecies of this count circle. (13th record)
Local “specialties.” Two species are more likely to be observed in winter within the Escondido count circle than any other location in coastal San Diego County. The easiest to observe is the Zone-tailed Hawk (27th record), most readily seen at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where two individuals were present (SW, JC, GD, EL, CMa, TS, LW).
As frequent as the hawk, but much less accessible, is Scott’s Oriole, which regularly winters in tall, extensive prickly pear patches, which, for some strange reason, aren’t often traversed by birders. A bright male “stake-out” bird failed to appear in the morning on the day of the count, but thanks to a persistent team, it was finally spotted in the afternoon near Summit Drive in south Escondido (TH, JJ, VN, EP, SMc).
Introduced species. Ninety-seven Wild Turkeys and eighteen Scaly-breasted Munias represent the more recent exotic bird life that “somebody” thought would be a good idea to release. We had our first report last year of Swinhoe’s White-eye, now numerous on the coast, but not observed this year.
Trends. Sadly, we are still seeing low and often dwindling numbers of nearly all waterbirds (ducks, grebes, herons, shorebirds) as well as flocking songbirds (blackbirds, corvids) within the count circle. We can speculate that drought, changing farming practices, and/or bird flu may be behind this, but I haven’t seen anything definitive yet. Let’s hope the numbers improve.
Thanks. A big thank you to all participants; to Jim Beckman, the Palomar Audubon Society vice-president and field trip chair; to our chapter’s hospitality team; to Angie Ray of the San Diego Zoo Alliance – Safari Park for providing transportation, access to behind-the-scenes areas, and knowledgeable staff (Eric Lutomski, Catie Masterson, and Tiana Skrivseth); and to James Cassidy of the Maderas Golf Club for providing access for our Poway team.
Hope to see you on the next count. Please continue to support the protection of our country’s wildlife, which is under very serious and totally unnecessary threats.
Ken Weaver
count compiler
Participants:
Chris Adler, Supeena Adler, Stephanie Aldern, Gerry Baade, Linda Baade, Dave Batzler,
Tim Burr, James Cassidy, Joni Ciarletta, Kate Clever, Beth Cobb, Jim Colby, Marie
DeGomez, Gail DeLalla, Laura Dominguez, Patti Ellis, Steve Ellis, Oscar Eusebio, Cindy
Fortner, Dave Fortner, Rick Groves, Ken Hartman, Siew Bee Hartman, Justin Hartsell,
Mary Jo Hayes, Tracy Henchbarger, Cathy Jain, Chris Jain, Helen Jenney, Jenny
Johnson-Patel, Tina Kafka, Max Leibowitz, Jill Laughlin, Paul Lehman, Greg Lillian,
Aedyn Loefke, Eric Lutomski, Clark Mahrdt, Donna Mancuso, Dotti Marron, Susie
Martin, Catie Masterson, Stacy McCline, Gary Meredith, Jessica Murany, Jane Mygatt,
Veronica Ness, Susan Newlin, Dawn Nowlin, Tsaiwei Olee, Barbara Orr, Egan Patel,
Beth Pearson, Steve Perry, Jack Peterson, Tom Pietuch, Vince Plourde, Dede Puaio,
Christine Rideout, Cindy Rippee, Dave Rose, Mary Rose, Lisa Ruby, Tuck Russell, Sally
Sanderson, Tom Simpson, Tiana Skrivseth, Robert Sommers, Lea Thai, Dave
Thompson, Phil Unitt, Phoenix Von Hendy, Stan Walens, Jon Watterson, Peggy
Watterson, Mac West, Lindsay Willrick, Kirsten Winter
Checklist
Snow Goose (2)
Ross’s Goose (2)
Cackling Goose (2)
Canada Goose (481)
Wood Duck (1)
Gadwall (47)
American Wigeon (631)
Mallard (418)
Blue-winged Teal (2)
Cinnamon Teal (5)
Northern Shoveler (89)
Northern Pintail (46)
Canvasback (23)
Ring-necked Duck (253)
Lesser Scaup (36)
Bu
fflehead (95)
Hooded Merganser (16)
Ruddy Duck (110)
Mountain Quail (1)
California Quail (198)
Wild Turkey (97)
Pied-billed Grebe (31)
Eared Grebe (5)
Western Grebe (44)
Clark’s Grebe (13)
Double-crested Cormorant (106)
American White Pelican (57)
Great Blue Heron (4)
Great Egret (11)
Snowy Egret (44)
Cattle Egret (11)
Green Heron (1)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (18)
White-faced Ibis (72)
Turkey Vulture (225)
Osprey (2)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1)
Cooper’s Hawk (18)
Bald Eagle (4)
Northern Harrier (2)
Red-shouldered Hawk (54)
Zone-tailed Hawk (2)
Red-tailed Hawk (123)
Ferruginous Hawk (6)
Sora (1)
Common Gallinule (24)
American Coot (339)
Killdeer (45)
Ring-billed Gull (57)
Rock Pigeon (59)
Eurasian Collared-Dove (99)
White-winged Dove (3)
Mourning Dove (370)
Greater Roadrunner (3)
Great Horned Owl (7)
Burrowing Owl (6)
White-throated Swift (106)
Anna’s Hummingbird (168)
Costa’s Hummingbird (2)
Rufous Hummingbird (1)
Allen’s Hummingbird (53)
Selasphorus, sp. (6)
Belted Kingfisher (3)
Acorn Woodpecker (355)
Red-breasted Sapsucker (3)
Nuttall’s Woodpecker (78)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Northern Flicker (51)
American Kestrel (46)
Merlin (3)
Prairie Falcon (2)
Black Phoebe (152)
Say’s Phoebe (58)
Vermilion Flycatcher (11)
Cassin’s Kingbird (147)
Loggerhead Shrike (1)
Hutton’s Vireo (9)
California Scrub-Jay (177)
American Crow (618)
Common Raven (412)
Horned Lark (21)
Tree Swallow (2)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (1)
Mountain Chickadee (4)
Oak Titmouse (123)
Bushtit (626)
White-breasted Nuthatch (40)
Rock Wren (9)
Canyon Wren (4)
Northern House Wren (6)
Bewick’s Wren (93)
Cactus Wren (19)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (7)
California Gnatcatcher (16)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (111)
Wrentit (17)
Western Bluebird (166)
Mountain Bluebird (11)
Hermit Thrush (43)
American Robin (65)
California Thrasher (106)
Northern Mockingbird (101)
Eurasian Starling (481)
American Pipit (85)
Cedar Waxwing (164)
Phainopepla (20)
Orange-crowned Warbler (53)
Common Yellowthroat (26)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1147)
Myrtle Warbler (2)
Townsend’s Warbler (10)
Chipping Sparrow (119)
Lark Sparrow (285)
Fox Sparrow (6)
Dark-eyed Junco (226)
Gray-headed Junco (1)
White-crowned Sparrow (1023)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (24)
Bell’s Sparrow (3)
Vesper Sparrow (9)
Savannah Sparrow (179)
Song Sparrow (182)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (19)
California Towhee (304)
Rufous-crowned Sparrow (14)
Spotted Towhee (95)
Western Tanager (1)
Red-winged Blackbird (166)
Western Meadowlark (196)
Brewer’s Blackbird (326)
Great-tailed Grackle (127)
Brown-headed Cowbird (780)
Scott’s Oriole (1)
House Finch (738)
Purple Finch (3)
Lesser Gold
finch (200)
Lawrence’s Gold
finch (1)
American Gold
finch (1)
House Sparrow (92)
Scaly-breasted Munia (18)
