Fall Arrival Dates For Some Wintering Land Birds in Santa Cruz County, CA

Compiled by David L. Suddjian, updated through 2004

These tables summarize arrival dates for 17 selected wintering land birds in Santa Cruz County, as recorded in the county bird records maintained by the Santa Cruz Bird Club. The data used here spans 57 years from 1948 – 2004, but for many species data was consistently available only from 1974 onwards. Table 1 presents arrival dates from the overall 57-year period. Table 2 presents arrival dates from the most recent 10-year period. Fourteen of these 17 species have earlier first arrival dates for the recent 10-year period than for the overall 57-year period, probably largely due to increased coverage and better reporting. Birders should note that for many species the main influx of migrants (i.e., when they can be readily found) is often 2-4 weeks after the season’s first arrivals. For example, in 2004 Yellow-rumped Warbler was first reported on August 31, but it was not reported subsequently until September 15 and did not become numerous until the 4^th week of September.

Table 1. Arrival dates recorded in Santa Cruz County from 1948 – 2004.

	*Overall Average*	*Standard*	*Overall Range*	Sample
*Species*	*1st Arrival*	*Deviation*	*of 1st Arrivals*	*Size*
Merlin	Sept 24	14 days	Aug 24 - Oct 19	28
Red-breasted Sapsucker	Oct 1	10 days	Sept 14 - Oct 30	31
Say’s Phoebe	Sept 13	7 days	Sept 3-30	27
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Sept 16	10 days	Aug 20 - Oct 1	33
Hermit Thrush	Sept 16	10 days	Aug 29 - Oct 5	25
Varied Thrush	Oct 4	13 days	Sept 6 - Oct 26	29
American Pipit	Sept 20	8 days	Aug 24 – Oct 5	25
Cedar Waxwing	Aug 31	11 days	Aug 7 – Sept 17	25
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Sept 12	10 days	Aug 25 - Sept 27	31
Townsend’s Warbler	Aug 30	10 days	Aug 6 - Sept 15	31
Fox Sparrow	Sept 16	8 days	Sept 3 – Oct 2	27
Lincoln’s Sparrow	Sept 12	6 days	Sept 2 – Sept 24	27
Swamp Sparrow	Oct 23	11 days	Oct 7 – Nov 18	23
White-throated Sparrow	Oct 18	14 days	Sept 25 - Nov 16	28
Golden-crowned Sparrow	Sept 15	8 days	Aug 24 - Sept 30	45
White-crowned Sparrow	Sept 13	6 days	Aug 28 - Sept 24	46
Evening Grosbeak	Oct 21	24 days	Sept 5 - Nov 25	16

Table 2. Arrival dates recorded in Santa Cruz County from the recent 10-year period.

	*1995-2004 Average*	*Standard*	*1995-2004 Range*	Sample
*Species*	*1st Arrival*	*Deviation*	*of 1st Arrivals*	*Size*
Merlin	Sept 17	6 days	Sept 6 – Sept 29	10
Red-breasted Sapsucker	Sept 27	10 days	Sept 14 - Oct 18	10
Say’s Phoebe	Sept 11	6 days	Sept 3 – Sept 19	10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Sept 8	11 days	Aug 20 – Sept 23	10
Hermit Thrush	Sept 16	10 days	Aug 29 – Sept 29	10
Varied Thrush	Oct 6	13 days	Sept 10 - Oct 26	10
American Pipit	Sept 17	10 days	Aug 24 - Sept 30	10
Cedar Waxwing	Aug 30	10 days	Aug 7 – Sept 11	10
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Sept 7	8 days	Aug 25 – Sept 17	10
Townsend’s Warbler	Aug 22	11 days	Aug 6 – Sept 8	10
Fox Sparrow	Sept 13	6 days	Sept 3 - Sept 23	10
Lincoln’s Sparrow	Sept 11	6 days	Sept 3 - Sept 23	10
Swamp Sparrow	Oct 19	10 days	Oct 7 - Nov 5	9
White-throated Sparrow	Oct 10	10 days	Sept 25 – Oct 26	10
Golden-crowned Sparrow	Sept 11	7 days	Sept 3 – Sept 27	10
White-crowned Sparrow	Sept 11	5 days	Sept 3 – Sept 19	10
Evening Grosbeak	Oct 26	25 days	Sept 5 - Nov 16	7

Fall Arrival Dates For Some Wintering Land Birds in Santa Cruz County, CA

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