A final 10 common backyard birds in San Diego

This series started with The 10 most common backyard birds of San Diego, California. It was followed by Another 10 common backyard birds of San Diego.

Here, then, are a final 10 common birds you will likely be able to find in your backyard. Of course, depending upon what trees and plants you have, what habitats border your home, and exactly where you live, many more are possible--especially during spring and fall migration. And if you include the airspace above your home, then you may spot even more as they fly over. But these final ten are likely in most backyards within the region.

Combined with the previous 20 species, these 30 total common birds will provide the beginner with a manageable starting point for learning the backyard birds of San Diego and, indeed, most of southern California.

So let's get right to it. Here are more birds to find in your backyard in the San Diego region.

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21) European Starling

Adult European Starling. Escondido, California. January 14, 2018.

Juvenile European Starling. Forest Grove, Oregon. August 18, 2007.

Introduced to North America in the late 19th century, European Starlings are pretty much resident across North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico in rural and urban areas. Because of their aggressive behavior most birders do not want starlings in their backyards. Don't feed birds human food scraps and you likely won't have many European Starlings. Otherwise they may take over your feeders.

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22) White-crowned Sparrow

Adult White-crowned Sparrow. Poway, California. April 8, 2018.

Immature White-crowned Sparrow. Lake Hodges, California. December 14, 2014.

White-crowned Sparrows from northern areas are common from October to April in southern California. They should come to your tray feeders or feed on the ground under them. They sing a cheerful series of notes and trills in late winter and on their northward journey in spring to their breeding grounds.

Black Skimmer at the San Diego River mouth

Black Skimmer. Mission Beach, California. June 1, 2019.

A flock of about a dozen Black Skimmers were feeding in the San Diego River mouth on June 1st, where I was able to get these flight shots.

To fly low and plow the shallow, calm waters with their knife-like bills, skimmers flap from horizontal to highly vertical, not below the horizontal in this feeding flight. The flock feeding flight appears choreographed and synchronized at times (upper photo). At other times flocks appear uncoordinated and chaotic (photos below).

Feral Pigeon

While searching for the rare Hudsonian Godwit at the San Diego River mouth, I photographed this common bird.

In January 2014 eBird changed the way these pigeons are reported. All populations in North and South America and Australia derived from feral stock. Thus, in eBird these are entered on your checklist as "Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)."

These doves in their native lands--and if showing the wild phenotype will be entered into eBird as Rock Dove (Wild Type). The native range is North Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and parts of southern Asia. The full announcement form 2014 is here.

Rock (Feral) Pigeon. Ocean Beach, California. June 1, 2019.

Rare bird: Hudsonian Godwit at the San Diego River mouth

Hudsonian Godwit. San Diego River mouth, Ocean Beach, California. June 1, 2019.

On Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, a Hudsonian Godwit was found and reported at the San Diego River mouth by Daniel Hite of Mesa, Arizona. This is a first San Diego County record. It was located again in the afternoon and many birders saw it. One of those birders is Guy McCaskie, a long-time resident and birding mentor to many. It was Guy's 500th San Diego bird species! Quite an accomplishment, as the county total ever seen is something less than 525.

Many spring rarities are "one day wonders," as birds in spring are usually strongly driven by hormones to migrate each day (usually, night). Thus it was no surprise that the bird was no where to be found early the next morning. Disappointed birders spread out along the river mouth, and local beaches, hoping beyond reason that it was still somewhere nearby. How startling, then, that Jeff Spaulding reported the bird a mile or so north at Mission Beach on the open beach!

The bird remained the rest of the day on this very popular and crowded beach. About 2:30 the bird disappeared. Not long after, Becky & Steve Turley of Long Beach ( I assume California and not Washington State) reported that the bird was back at the river mouth. And that's the way it went throughout the rest of the week. At high tide the bird fed on the crowded beach; at low tide it returned to the mudflats in the river mouth, easily identifiable among the larger and paler Marbled Godwits.

Of course, I was a hundred road miles away in the Anza-Borrego Desert when the bird was first discovered. And I was back at work Tuesday when it was rediscovered. So I had no reason to expect that the bird would still be around on Sunday, June 1, when I finally had time to go look. And I didn't find it on the beach where it had been reported first thing in the morning. I didn't even see any birders in either direction. So I drove the short, but twisted, route to the San Diego River mouth through the heavy beach town traffic. As I walked up on the dike, Matt Sadowski was setting up his scope on the bird! It was mostly on the opposite shore. Matt had watched it on the beach (even farther north than I had been) when it flew south toward the river mouth.

After Matt left, I drove across the river and was able to view and photograph this beauty in good light at much closer range. It wasn't anything like the views of those who photographed it at point blank range on the beach, though.

The next day, June 2, the bird was on the beach early, and at the river mouth in the afternoon. The last eBird report was after 3:00 pm by John Bruin. It was not reported again.

My photos are nice, but there are 465 photos of this individual bird on eBird! Many are much closer and much better. Check them out here.

Wilson's Warbler in Borrego Springs

Here's a pretty little Wilson's Warbler recently photographed in a mesquite tree.

Wilson's Warbler. Borrego Springs, California. May 27, 2019.