Join us online on October 21, 2021 at 7pm for Breeding Birds of Sacramento: A Tale of Two Atlases and Three Decades of Change presented by Ed Pandolfino. The meeting will be held via WebEx. To receive the link to join this presentation, email: meetings@sacramentoaudubon.org.
California Quail, Image by Ray Rozema
We all know how much the Central Valley has changed in the past few decades – increased development, changes in agriculture, changing climate. But how has all that affected our breeding birds? Ed Pandolfino will take us through the results of the recently completed SECOND Sacramento County Breeding Bird Atlas to answer that question.
This new Atlas is a follow up to an earlier Atlas effort led by Tim Manolis, completed in the early 1990s, but not published until now. Central Valley Bird Club just released a book comparing the results of those two Atlases, the first published comparison of subsequent BBAs in the state. The authors include Ed, and three other Sacramento County ornithologists: Lily Douglas, Tim Manolis and Chris Conard. You can purchase a copy of the book here.
Some of the results may match your expectations (grassland birds in general in trouble), but others may surprise. For example, we now have MORE species of breeding bird than during the earlier Atlas period. Ed will discuss the “winners”, new breeding birds, the “losers”, birds no longer breeding in the County, and dramatic changes in breeding habitat selection for some species.
The bottom line from this comparison is NOT a story of “doom and gloom” but one of the amazing resiliency and adaptability of birds.
More about the Authors
Ed Pandolfino served as vice-president of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, Placer County conservation chair for Sierra Foothills Audubon, and president of Western Field Ornithologists. He has been on the boards of the Institute for Bird Populations and Western Field Ornithologists. He was a regional editor for North American Birds for northern California and is on the editorial board of Central Valley Birds. He has published nearly four dozen papers on the status and behavior of western birds, contributed chapters to two books, and co-authored Birds of the Sierra Nevada: Their Natural History, Status, and Distribution (U.C. Press, 2013).
Lily Douglas helped manage habitat in the Owen’s Valley for a number of species of conservation concern, including Greater Sage Grouse. She used her considerable GIS skills to map Golden Eagle nests from historic files and helped develop management plans for desert tortoise conservation areas for the California State Office of the Bureau of Land Management. Lily is currently the Assistant Coordinator for the Central Valley Joint Venture for migratory bird habitat conservation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and serves on the board of the Central Valley Bird Club. Her most recent publication is a study of urban-breeding Yellow-billed Magpies in Sacramento.
Tim Manolis served as president of Western Field Ornithologists and first president of the Central Valley Bird Club. He has been actively involved in Sacramento Audubon Society for over 50 years, including serving as compiler of the Sacramento Christmas Bird Count and the first Sacramento Breeding Bird Atlas. He is the author of Dragonflies and Damselflies of California and illustrator of Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions and Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States, all in the U.C. Press California Natural History Guides series. Tim has the distinction of having a damselfly he collected in Brazil named after him (Tepuibasis manolisi).
Chris Conard is a natural resource specialist for the Bufferlands, responsible for managing seasonal wetlands for waterbird habitat, maintaining habitat restoration projects, monitoring flora and fauna, and giving public tours. He is the eBird reviewer for Sacramento County, compiles the Folsom Christmas Bird Count, and has written the “Seasonal Observations” column for Sacramento Audubon since 2000. He was editor for Birding in the Sacramento Region and wrote the chapter on Clark Mountain for A Birder’s Guide to Southern California. Chris spent 15 years on the Central Valley Bird Club board, including six years as president.
To receive the link to join this presentation, email meetings@sacramentoaudubon.org.