Finding a rare Thick-billed Kingbird in California
During our christmas holidays in Orange County, I went birding several times the amazing at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park. As I always do. I just love this place. You only need 15 to 30 minutes in the park to spot more than 20 bird species. The diversity is pretty amazing. It feels so good to see a place with such great wildlife being located in an area where most of the land has been turned to residential areas.
A once-in-a-lifetime birding walk at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park
On January 6, I went birding at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park once again. I walked the tour of the lake. It was sunny and pretty warm. Reaching the west side of the lake, where there are so many very tall trees, I suddenly spot a bird on top of one of them.
At first, I thought it was a Cassin's Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans), as I had already spotted four of them and they seem to be everywhere. Taking my binoculars, I noticed the bill was very strong. I took my camera and made a few images. Zooming in on the LCD screen of my Canon 7Dii, I was astonished to see that it was in fact a Thick-billed Kingbird (Tyrannus crassirostris) !!!
The greatness of participative science for birders
Sending my checklist on ebird, I got contacted quickly after about the sighting. After sending a couple of pictures, the sighting got confrimed and realized that it was quite of a birding event : it was the first record for Orange County since 1993! Almost 30 years!
Quoting Tom, an Orange County ebird reviewer : “Thick-billed Kingbird (TBKI) is an exceptional rarity in California. To my knowledge there have been only two records in the past 15+ years, both indiviuals have returned to the same wintering locations for 5+ years including Winter 2020-2021 (one in San Dimas, Los Angeles Count; the other in Chula Vista in the San Diego metropolitan area).”
After submitting the checklist, an other local birder has been able to find the bird again in just an hour. Since then, many birders have enjoyed this great rarity.
This is one of the main reasons why I love ebird and participative science so much.
On this 2h30 birding walk at Laguna Niguel Regional Park, I spotted 44 bird species.
Love Nature
Jonathan
