May 2026 Updates
Featured Paper of the Month:
First Record of Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) for Temperate North America: Intercontinental Vagrancy and Migratory Misorientation
Photo documentation of California and temperate North America’s first Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) in Mountain View, California (above) and the hundreds of birders who flocked to see it from all over the country (right).
Photo credit: Michael Long (top), Chris Henry (right)
SOAR member and lead author Marty Freeland, as well as SOAR PI and senior author Rodolfo Dirzo, and SOAR member Maya Xu, detail the occurrence of a Dark-sided Flycatcher(Muscicapa sibirica) in a parking lot at the Mountain View Google campus from September 17-19, 2025, establishing the first record of this species and genus for California and temperate North America. The bird was determined to be from the nominate subspecies, belonging to highly migratory populations that breed in northeast Asia. The authors evaluate potential mechanisms for the bird’s arrival, including reversal and mirror-image misorientation among other explanations within the little-studied field of avian vagrancy.
Research from the SOAR Network
Here, we’ve compiled recent papers published by SOAR-affiliated researchers. Click on the dark blue buttons to read each publication!
Luna and McFadden (2026) on implications of limited access to US state birds based on racial disparity
Tattoni et al. (2025) on long-term passerine moult phenology in a Mediterranean climate
León-Osper et al. (2025) on red floral UV pigments attracting birds and deterring bees
Haile et al. (2025) on Western Snowy Plover breeding dispersal post-nest failure
Exciting New Research on California Birds
SOAR is just one of many initiatives in California conducting amazing studies about our state’s birds. Click the buttons to read each publication!
Ray et al. (2025) on fire boosting arboreal avian populations in the Sierra Nevada
Hartman et al. (2025) on habitat factors informing the success of the California Waterbird Habitat Program
Clapp et al. (2025) on the impact of introduced trout on the Sierra Nevada bird community
Hillier-Weltman et al. (2025) on native shrub density impacts on bird communities in California's southern drylands
New Bird Research Across the Globe!
Amazing ornithological research is published every day by research teams across the world. Click on the dark blue button to read each publication!
Nemeth et al. (2026) on black vulture vulnerability to highly pathogenic avian influenza
Sierra-Morales et al. (2025) on Short-crested Coquettes
Nordmann et al. (2025) on magnetic sensing in pigeon brains
Zhu et al. (2025) on small, mobile avian frugivores connecting fragmented forest
