The Best Santa Barbara Birding

Santa Barbara County is a world-renowned destination for birders because of its great diversity of birds. More than 600 species have been recorded here, from the tiny calliope hummingbird to the majestic California condor. Here are six top birding areas across the region.

Lake Los Carneros

This Goleta lake and its immediate environs contain a variety of habitats in a small area that attract birds and help make it a top birding destination. The open water of the lake is important for several species of wintering duck, including the North American ruddy duck, which can often be seen in large numbers. The lake’s tule-lined edges provide habitat for nesting red-winged blackbirds and common yellowthroats, and in the winter, provide cover for shy birds such as American bittern, sora, and Virginia rail. 

The woodland around the lake holds a great variety of species. Exotic plantings around the historic Stow House provide year-round habitat for warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, hawks, and woodpeckers. Acorn woodpeckers are a common sight; they even drill holes in the eves of the house to store their acorns! The nesting boxes in the grassland are used by both western bluebirds and tree swallows. 

Ample parking can be found in the Stow House lot off Los Carneros Road.

The Santa Barbara Waterfront

This area close to hotels is a popular destination for beachgoers and also an excellent birding location. Mission Creek meets the ocean just to the east of Stearns Wharf, and the meeting of fresh and salt water attracts birds that come to rest, feed, and bathe. 

From spring through fall, you’ll see large numbers of elegant terns, while in winter, royal terns grace the beach along with a few black skimmers. This is the only regular local wintering site of these charismatic black and white birds that feed by skimming over the water and snapping up small fish. 

Shorebirds can be abundant, including flocks of the larger ones such as long-billed curlew, whimbrel, and marbled godwit. Close by are the Santa Barbara Harbor and the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge, two more good places to look.

Public parking is available on the waterfront at the Palm Park lot at the end of Garden Street.

Devereux Slough and North Campus Open Space (NCOS)

These two areas just to the west of Isla Vista can be thought of as a single entity. Devereux has long been a beloved birding spot for ducks, herons, and shorebirds. NCOS, formerly a golf course, has been restored to its original wetland, thus extending the reach of the slough. 

Both locations often have large numbers of egrets and herons. Great blue herons nest in the eucalyptus trees that border the slough. The beach at the mouth of Devereux Slough is excellent for shorebirds. Snowy plovers nest on the beach here, and their numbers are greatly augmented in the winter. Rarities often turn up here; the most spectacular recent sighting was the swallow-tailed gull (normally found on the Galapagos Islands) that graced the beach in July 2023.

Free parking is in a lot at 6969 Whittier Dr., Goleta.

Santa Cruz Island

Island Packers runs a daily ferry service from Ventura to both Prisoner’s Harbor and Scorpion Anchorage on Santa Cruz Island, called the Galapagos of North America by scientists because of its rich ecosystems and great biodiversity. You can visit for the day, or, if you’re more adventurous, you can camp overnight. 

The island is part of the Channel Islands National Park, and on the crossing you can often see dolphins and whales, as well as pelagic seabirds such as shearwaters, murres, murrelets, and phalaropes. 

On the island, the star attraction is the island scrub-jay, a species found nowhere else on Earth. It is larger and bluer than the California scrub-jay of the mainland and is often easy to find in both of the campgrounds in Scorpion Valley. Island foxes are abundant, and common ravens are unusually approachable. In the fall, the island is a great place to spot vagrants, rare birds that have lost their way.

See “Day Tripping to Channel Islands National Park” for more info. 

Lake Cachuma

This reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley provides water to the City of Santa Barbara and is the largest body of freshwater in the county. It is an important wintering area for ducks and is one of the only places in the county where bald eagles nest. Other breeding birds include both the western and Clark’s grebe, whose strange creaking calls echo across the lake in the spring. 

Ospreys don’t nest here, but outside of summer, they are a common sight as they fish the lake, usually with more success than the fishermen. Oak savannah borders the lake, and western bluebirds and acorn woodpeckers are two of the many birds likely to be encountered from the water.

Cachuma Lake Recreation Area, 1 Lakeview Dr., is accessed from Highway 154, 20 miles northwest of Santa Barbara. Lake cruises aboard a pontoon led by park naturalists are available on weekends and are a great way to get close to wildlife.

Santa Ynez River Mouth

The 92-mile-long Santa Ynez River, which feeds Lake Cachuma, is one of the largest rivers on the Central Coast of California. It ends its journey at the Pacific Ocean, just west of the City of Lompoc and next to the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The river mouth is an important wetland area, and the endangered “Belding’s” savannah sparrow nests here. 

The open water of the estuary often holds large numbers of wintering ducks, and the muddy margins provide good habitat for a variety of shorebirds and herons. Bald eagles and ospreys are frequent visitors.

You can park at Ocean Park, 6851 Ocean Park Rd, Lompoc.