 Don
Roberson is a native northern California birder best known for his publications,
his knowledge of and devotion to Monterey County, and his extensive State
birding in the 1970s. He began birding on his own when he was 13 years
old after reading about Christmas Bird Counts in Reader's Digest,
but did not intersect with the wider birding subculture until he moved
to Berkeley in 1972. He first appears in American Birds in fall
1971 in southern California (under the name "Don Raberson," two Blue-footed
Boobies still at the Salton Sea 6 Nov 1971) and in fall 1972 in northern
California (Virginia's Warbler in Marin County). A protégé
of Van Remsen and Laurie Binford, he actively participated in the birding
group centered around U.C. Berkeley in the mid-1970s, although he went
to college and law school elsewhere in the Bay area. He actively birded
the entire State in the mid-to-late 1970s, especially during "Big Year"
efforts in 1975 and 1977; he published a small book about the latter effort
(when he was second to Guy McCaskie) in 1978 (Birders' California).
His tome on rarities from Alaska to California appeared in 1980 (Rare
Birds of the West Coast).
Roberson moved to Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in April 1979
and has resided there ever since. He focused heavily on Monterey County
birds during the 1980s, and published Monterey Birds, an authoritative
status and distributional review, in 1985. [This book eventually went out-of-print,
but an entirely new edition appeared in 2002.] He was also a major force
in Monterey County's breeding bird atlas project (1988-1992), and was the
senior editor of its publication (Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Monterey
County, 1993). During his surveys of Monterey County he 'discovered,'
arranged access, and popularized birding at privately operated Moonglow
Dairy in Moss Landing, and was also one of the earliest birders at the
Big Sur R. mouth. He led numerous Monterey Bay boat trips (and continues
to do so today) and also sailed aboard several 'platforms-of-opportunity'
research cruises farther offshore. He was the voice of the Monterey rare
bird alert for many years in the '80s and '90s.
Photo (left or above): 14 Oct 1973 Pt. Diablo MRN ©
Van Remsen
|
 Roberson
served 7 years on the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) during the
period here under consideration, and was Secretary from 1986-1990. He spearheaded
the CBRC's 'old records review project' when he personally contacted hundreds
of observers, and visited all the State's museums, to obtain details of
early records or photos of old specimens. He also acted as a fill-in Regional
editor for American Birds in one season [later, in the 1990s, he
would serve five years as a landbird Regional editor].
Don organized the Big Day teams that tied Texas in 1983 (an effort extensively
covered by the media), and then led the team that beat Texas and set the
national record in 1984 (these were both Big Days using an airplane). He
participated in many other Big Day efforts during the period, many of which
set monthly or county-level records. In fall 1989, just as our period of
review concluded, he spent four months at sea in the eastern tropical Pacific
as a seabird observer aboard a NOAA tuna-porpoise cruise. This experience,
combined with a Chapman research grant to visit east coast museums, led
to a series of papers on the i.d. and distribution of tropical seabirds
that would be published in the 1990s.
Don became interested in foreign travels in 1975 when he was a part
of Van Remsen's pick-up tour of Colombia. His travels became more frequent
in the 1980s and after the close of our period of review. He will shortly
reach two world birding goals: seeing a member of every bird family, and
observing half the birds in the world (~5000). He has continued to be an
active birder in Monterey County, and both the county
and his world
travels are featured on his web site. He has continued to chase vagrants
for his State list, and now has the second highest California list (after
Guy McCaskie).
Photo (right): 29 May 1978 Mesquite Springs, Death Valley
INY © Brad Schram |
Official Bird Name: American Woodcock
Ticky Token: Yes
Significant bird records during our period: Many records of local interest,
especially in Monterey County; those of Statewide interest include:
-
White-eyed Vireo 7 June 1977 Pt. Reyes MRN — 2nd CA record
-
Streaked Shearwater 9 Oct 1977 Monterey Bay MTY — 2nd CA record [co-finder]
-
Pyrrhuloxia 18 July 1974 Westmorland IMP — 5th CA record
-
Mississippi Kite 25 May 1976 Furnace Creek INY — 5th CA record
-
Connecticut Warbler 22 Sep 1974 Stovepipe Wells INY — 1st interior
CA record
-
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 1 May 1978 Monterey Bay MTY — 1st spring
CA record
-
Lark Bunting 26 May 1978 Lanfair Valley SBE — 1st confirmed
breeding record in CA [co-finder]
-
Blackburnian Warbler 29 Dec 1986-Mar 1987 Pacific Grove MTY
— 1st wintering record in CA
-
Mottled Petrel 12 Dec 1984 Pt. Pinos MTY — 7th CA rec, only
2nd seen from shore
-
Black-headed Gull 20 Mar 1979 Stockton SJ — 7th CA rec, the
bird returned for 8 consecutive years
-
Cerulean Warbler 25 Oct 1979 Carmel R. mouth MTY — 7th CA record
Various others since 1989, including singing Blue-winged Warbler and Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher |
Selected publications 1975-1989:
-
Roberson, D. 1975a. California and Stallcup - the best of both in '74.
Birding 7: 172-178.
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Roberson, D. 1975b. 500 in one state - a new landmark. Birding 7: 237-238.
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Roberson, D. 1977. Death Valley days. W. Tanager, Aug 1977 issue.
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Roberson, D. 1978. Birders' California. Amer. Birding Ass'n, Boulder, CO.
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Roberson, D. 1980. Rare Birds of the West Coast. Woodcock Publ., Pacific
Grove, CA.
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Roberson, D. 1982a. The changing seasons-summer '82 (summary of North America).
Am. Birds 36: 948-953.
-
Roberson, D. 1982b, Introducing the new ABA birds. Birding 15: 116-130.
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Roberson, D. 1984a. The changing seasons-spring '84 (summary of North America).
Am. Birds 38: 877-882.
-
Roberson, D. 1984b. Identification quiz - Xantus' Murrelet. West. Birds
15:43-44.
-
Roberson, D. 1985. Monterey Birds. Monterey Peninsula Audubon Soc., Pacific
Grove, Calif.
-
Roberson, D. 1986. Ninth report of the California Bird Records Committee.
West. Birds 17:49-77.
-
Roberson, D. 1987. The ten most likely additions to the ABA checklist.
Birding 20: 353-363.
-
Roberson, D. 1989. More on Pacific versus Arctic Loons. Birding 21: 154-157.
 Co-authored
publications as senior author:
-
Roberson, D, Morlan, J., and Small, A. 1977. A Streaked Shearwater in California.
Am. Birds 31: 1097-1098.
-
Roberson, D, and Pitelka, F.A. 1983. Occurrence of Willow Warbler in North
America refuted. Condor 85: 258.
-
Roberson, D., and Baptista, L. F. 1988. White-shielded coots in North America:
A critical evaluation. Am. Birds 42:1241-1246.
Co-authored publications as junior author:
-
Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. S. Luther, and Roberson, D.1976 A Ringed Woodpecker
Celeus
torquatus in Colombia. Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 96: 40.
-
Stallcup, R., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1988. First record of the Wedge-tailed
Shearwater in California. West. Birds 19:61-68.
-
Trochet, J., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1988. First record of the Three-toed
Woodpecker in California. West. Birds 19:109-115.
-
Daniels, B. E., Hays, L., Hays, D., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1989.
First record of the Common Black-Hawk for California. West. Birds 20:11-18.
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Erickson, R. A., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1989. First record of the
White-collared Swift in California. West. Birds 20:25-31.
-
Gordon, P., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1989. First record of the White-winged
Crossbill in California. West. Birds 20:81-87.
 Selected
publications since 1989:
-
Roberson, D. 1990. North American bird records committees. Birding 22:
276-285.
-
Webster, R. E., Morlan, J., and Roberson, D. 1990. First record of the
Sooty Tern in California. West. Birds 21:25-32.
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Roberson, D., and Bailey, S. F. 1991. Cookilaria petrels in the eastern
Pacific Ocean: Identification and distribution. Am. Birds 45:399-403, 1067-1081.
-
McCaskie, G., and Roberson, D. 1992. First record of the Stejneger's Petrel
in California. West. Birds 23:145-152.
-
Roberson, D. 1993a. Fourteenth report of the California Bird Records Committee.
West. Birds 24:113-166.
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Roberson, D. 1993b. A note on hybrid white geese. Birding 25: 50-53.
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Roberson, D. 1995. "Special attention - Little Curlew" in Middle Pacific
Coast Region (D. G. Yee, S. F. Bailey, D. Fix, and D. S. Singer, eds.),
p. 97. Am. Birds 49:97.
-
Roberson, D. 1996. Identifying Manx Shearwaters in the northeastern Pacific.
Birding 28:18-33.
-
Roberson, D. 1998. Sulids Unmasked: which large booby reaches California.
Field Notes 52: 276-287.
-
Roberson, D. 2002. Monterey Birds. 2d. Monterey Pen. Audubon Soc., Carmel
CA.
Photo (above right) shows (L to R) Terry Clark, Don Roberson,
and Jolee DeLew at Furnace Creek INY, 29 May 1986 © Barry Clark
More recent mug shot (right) at a PhotoShop class ~2002 |
