Tropical Kingbird ©Tom Pritchard
An uncharacteristically warm March was highlighted by a handful of rarities and a flurry of early spring migrants in Yolo County. The tail-end of winter saw occasional reports of a TROPICAL KINGBIRD at Bridgeway Island Pond, likely one of two birds seen nearby earlier in the year at Bridgeway Lakes Community Park. It was first reported on 3/3 and not noted after 3/11 (AK). A SWAMP SPARROW was a surprise along Prospect Slough in southeastern Yolo County on 3/8, quite the reward for the two intrepid birders who kayaked into the area in search of scarce breeding species (KS, SS).
For the sixth straight year, ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRDS have returned to Uslan Farm in Clarksburg (TU). This year, two males were first detected on 3/19 and have since gone missing in action. This pattern is consistent with other March arrivals at the location in prior years, causing speculation as to whether these may represent some sort of post-nesting movement from a breeding area nearby. As of yet, only male ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRDS have been confirmed in Yolo County, however, this is likely due to the fact that excellent photos of the spread tail are required to identify suspected ALLEN’S from their similar RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD congeners.
Following significant December rains and the flooding of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, the slow drawdown of the wetlands there have provided excellent shorebird habitat this spring. By mid-March, northbound shorebird migration is in full-swing and birders have reported thousands of DUNLIN, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS. A single RUFF was seen for a few days beginning 3/28 (CD). With nearly two-dozen individuals of RUFF recorded at the YBWA since its opening in 1997, it remains one of the best spots in the Lower 48 to look for this trans-continental vagrant.
The latter half of the month felt a lot more like mid-April than it did March, with a surge of early migrants arriving from neotropical wintering grounds. Perhaps the most surprising of these was a spectacular male CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD that spent one morning at Uslan Farm on 3/31 (TU). This is the earliest spring record for the species in Yolo County, but it did follow a handful of records in the Sierra Nevada foothills in days previous. BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS are also atypical before April, but males were seen in Davis (KD) and at Uslan Farm (TU) in the final days of March. Two early HAMMOND’S FLYCATCHERS were seen in the county on 3/28, with one on Rayhouse Road (EC) and one in Clarksburg (BS). BULLOCK’S ORIOLES, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, and WESTERN KINGBIRDS have all arrived in numbers, and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS returned to their usual locations in southern Yolo.
Regular intensive monitoring of the waterfowl at Bridgeway Island Pond has produced some interesting finds, including multiple forms of hybrid within members of the genus Spatula. A subtle male BLUE-WINGED x CINNAMON TEAL hybrid was discovered on 3/7, the second example of this cross noted at the location this winter (HW, EG, KW, SC). Of greater rarity was a hybrid BLUE-WINGED TEAL x NORTHERN SHOVELER, found on 3/29 and well photographed (AF, PB). Few county records of this hybrid pairing exist, and none are as well documented as this bird.
Continuing birds included the long-staying GREATER ROADRUNNER at Taber Ranch Winery and Event Center in Capay, which was reported sporadically throughout the month. The wintering NORTHERN YELLOW WARBLER at Bridgeway Island Pond was last seen on 3/7. Also noteworthy was a SCALY-BREASTED MUNIA at West Pond in Davis from 3/1 – 3/3 (Anonymous eBirder). Whether this non-native songbird represents a local escapee or a wanderer from established populations in the Bay Area and southern California is unknown, but given the rapid expansion of the species throughout the state in recent decades, the latter seems likely.
California Bird Atlas Updates – Yolo County:
January 1, 2026, marked the beginning of the California Bird Atlas (CBA), a five-year-long participatory science project that will document breeding birds throughout all of California! The CBA will provide invaluable insight into the state’s bird populations as well as how species interact with their habitats. All birders, regardless of experience, are invited to contribute to the project via eBird (more on that below)!
CBA participation, both locally and statewide, has been phenomenal. Atlas checklists containing breeding behavior have already blown expectations out of the water, with over 60,000 atlas checklists submitted in the first three months. These checklists have documented breeding behavior in over 300 species, and 175 of those have been confirmed as nesting in the state. These incredible statistics will continue to grow throughout the course of the project, and can be explored at the CBA’s primary data page, here.
I (Zane Pickus) have agreed to join the CBA as a Regional Coordinator for Yolo County. In this position, it is my role to promote the Atlas in the region, work with local birders to help them join the project and submit data, answer questions about the CBA, and coordinate birder coverage to ensure data is obtained from all throughout the county. If you have questions about the Atlas or want help to get started, feel free to reach out! All are encouraged to participate.
Going forward, I intend to dedicate a portion of this “Recent Sightings” column to include updates about the CBA and highlight notable statistics and breeding observations in Yolo County. To start, I am thrilled to report that over 147 atlasers have already contributed to the CBA in Yolo County, submitting over 700 checklists in the first three months. For the purposes of the Atlas, Yolo County is split into 101 atlas blocks, of which 68 already have submitted data. That leaves roughly one-third open to be explored, and all blocks remain far from “complete” in terms of achieving adequate survey coverage. In other words, we have a long way to go to cover the whole county and complete Atlas protocols, and doing so will take endless teamwork and participation!
Forty-eight (48) species have already been confirmed as breeding in Yolo County, an impressive number for a county which generally has later arrivals of its non-resident breeding species. The species with the most breeding confirmations thus far are Bushtit (12 reports), Red-tailed Hawk (8), and European Starling (8). Notable breeding confirmations include a Loggerhead Shrike nest at Uslan Farm (TU) and Yellow-headed Blackbirds nesting at Woodland WTP (BW). Key species to lookout for as confirmed nesters are MALLARD and CANADA GOOSE. These two urban-pond-regulars hold the most reports of “Probable” nesting but have not yet been “CONFIRMED” at a nest or with young. You can read more about the different levels of breeding confidence here.
With spring well underway and millions of birds gearing up for migration and the breeding season throughout our region, there is plenty more to discover and document! Feel free to keep up with Yolo County Atlas statistics here.
For more information about the CBA: https://www.californiabirdatlas.org/
YouTube tutorial on how to join the project: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Z3kbqiO9rw
Thanks to the following for their reports:
Peyton Bounds (PB), Eric Cameron (EC), Selena Cao (SC), Chris Dong (CD), Konshau Duman (KD), Anthony Ferrendelli (AF), Ellie Gottlieb (EG), Arch Kono (AK), Brian Schretzmann (BS), Sean Smith (SS), Kirk Swenson (KS), Tom Uslan (TU), Kailee Walker (KW), Bart Wickel (BW), Henry Witsken (HW)
Photos and Audio Recordings:
Tropical Kingbird: https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S308328616
Allen’s Hummingbird: https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S310839284
Calliope Hummingbird: https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S315338979
Hammond’s Flycatcher (Rayhouse Road): https://ebird.org/checklist/S314091140
Hammond’s Flycatcher (Clarksburg): https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/checklist/S314007123
Blue-winged Teal x Northern Shoveler: https://ebird.org/checklist/S314861096
Scaly-breasted Munia: https://ebird.org/checklist/S306583538
–Zane Pickus