For those of you not interested in this topic click delete now!

Kimball Garrett recently announced to the L.A. discussion
group, The CBRC has recently added Mitred Parakeet ( Psittacara
mitratus) and Lilac-crowned Parrot ( Amazona finschi ) to the official
California state list as naturalized non-native species. Since both of these
species are well-established in Los Angeles County, they are now officially
added to the county bird list as well.

It is well known that a small population of free-flying Lilac-crowned
Parrots have been in Santa Barbara for a few decades now, although it is estimated
that numbers may have declined sharply recently as a result of mudslides in the
Montecito area. Ive been vacillating between adding this species to the county
bird list that I maintain on sbcobirding.com based on this recent addition to the California Bird Records
Committee official list, vs keeping it off the list for now because
this species probably doesnt qualify as well-established in Santa Barbara in
the way that Kimball describes for Los Angeles. The history of Lilac-crowned Parrot in
the county is a bit of a mystery, but this species has been around since the
1970s from some unknown origin. Im sure some of you have seen these parrots on
occasion which have numbered up to as many as 8 10 birds at a time, but usually
fewer. This is an interesting situation because the population in Santa Barbara
is detached or isolated from what is now considered to be a well-established and growing population
in So. CA and the reason for including it on the official state list. Im not suggesting that SBA Lilac-crowned Parrots are now somehow
legitimate or that you are liberated from whatever limitations were in place to
start counting them (but see my eBird comment below). Lists are personal things and many
of us count introduced or exotic birds all the time. Spotted Dove might be a
similar example where there was probably never a large population before
being extirpated. Lilac-crowned Parrot might fall into the same category (or
not). I am a bit of a purist myself and personally I only count introduced birds
that are on the state list. This parrot issue creates a conundrum because it is
now ON the state list. It is also possible that Swinhoes White-eye will be added
to the state list some day and that species may never become established
locally and only small numbers may turn up from time to time as this species is
prone to wandering. Eric Culbertson has already recorded this species a few times in Santa Barbara recently, and there are other recent reports from the
southern Channel Islands.

Many of us use eBird today and eBird takes a different approach and even encourages the reporting of exotics. From their eBird Rules and Best Practices page: "Introduced species - you may report domestic or exotic species if they are known to have established, self-sustaining populations in that area." This rule isn't limited to whether exotics are on official lists or not. Several exotics are approved for reporting locally that aren't on the state list but are included on the CBRC Watch List (PDF) for possible future inclusion (Mute Swan, Swinhoe's White-eye). eBird filter taxa recommendations for California also includes the following statement relating to Lilac-crowned Parrot: "Validate statewide in California, in Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, and in Florida on Southeastern Peninsula where a few small flocks found recently." eBird does not differentiate between regions in CA where these parrots are found and what might constitute an established population, but using this guidance Lilac-crowned Parrot is a species included in the SBA county eBird filter data set and has been for some time (but flagged for review). Looking at the county eBird Map for Lilac-crowned Parrot you will find every report submitted thus far has been validated with the exception of two - a report from Cachuma Lake, and another from somewhere up Happy Canyon. Both of these were marked Unconfirmed due to obvious location issues and because they were submitted without any comments.

For those of you interested in this parrot thing this might be a unique opportunity going forward to record these in eBird whether they are "countable" or not.
We might learn over time that the population is slowly rebounding or moving
toward extirpation in the way that Spotted Dove did beginning in the 1980's. Since data collection and display is one of the strengths of eBird I think it should be used to record local Lilac-crowned Parrots wherever they are found and because it is now listed on the state list. For more information be sure to look at Kimballs website
devoted to CA parrots:
The
California Parrot Project

Jamie M. Chavez
Santa Maria, CA
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Jamie Chavez
Santa Maria, CA