[EBB Sightings] Land Bird Arrival Dates

As Spring arrives, I thought it might be interesting to monitor the arrival
dates of landbirds to see if there is any pattern of unexpectedly early
arrivals.  The following list is extracted from the Marin County Breeding
Bird Atlas - Table 4 by Shuford).  The first date is the average and the
second is the earliest on record.  The list sequence uses "earliest on
record" rather than average.  

These dates to be baseline and subject to change.  Some species such as
Cliff Swallow regularly arrive in the interior earlier than the dates here.
In some cases, it's hard to tell arriving migrants from lingering winter
stragglers.  Usually the first migrants are singing males, but it's not
always easy to tell.  Some of the "earliest on record" dates may be such
lingering stragglers.   

Let's see how the migration season compares with these baseline dates. 

FEBRUARY (These three should already be here)

Allen's Hummingbird 2/5 1/24
Tree Swallow 2/13 1/20
Violet-green Swallow 2/21 2/6

MARCH (These should be arriving soon or already be here)

Orange-crowned Warbler 3/3 2/18
Barn Swallow 3/11 2/24
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3/7 2/29
Western Kingbird 3/23 3/2
House Wren 3/21 3/4
Cliff Swallow 3/18 3/5 (arrives earlier in the interior)
Hooded Oriole 3/19 3/5
Warbling Vireo 3/21 3/9
Wilson's Warbler 3/19 3/10
Bullock's Oriole 3/16 3/10
Pacific-slope Flycatcher 3/22 3/11

APRIL (These are not expected yet)

Chipping Sparrow 4/14 3/20
Yellow Warbler 4/6 3/21
Cassin's Vireo 4/1 3/22
Vaux's Swift 4/6 3/26
Olive-sided Flycatcher 4/14 3/28
Black-headed Grosbeak 4/3 3/28
Lazuli Bunting 4/18 3/29
Black-throated Gray Warbler 4/4 3/30
Ash-throated Flycatcher 4/9 4/2
MacGillivray's Warbler 4/11 4/3
Western Tanager 4/13 4/3
Western Wood-Pewee 4/15 4/9
Hermit Warbler 4/16 4/13
Swainson's Thrush 4/21 4/14

-- 
Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA 94044   jmorlan (at) ccsf.edu 
Birding Classes start Feb 5 in SF   http://fog.ccsf.edu/~jmorlan/
California Bird Records Committee   http://www.wfo-cbrc.org/cbrc/