White-faced Ibis. This bird is seen in the large flocks flying overhead. The narrow bill is often difficult to see in flight. They feed in flooding hay fields eatting crickets and other bugs along with the Cattle Egrets. This bird exhibits white at the base of it's bill only during breeding season.

Birds commonly found at Sunbeam Lake in Winter

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Green Heron. There is a resident bird or two, usually seen on the upper lake. Often perches low in the trees and brush alongside the lake. Green head is distinctive.

Belted Kingfisher. Seen now and then around Sunbeam Lake. Distinctive breast band. A fish eater that plunge dives for dinner.

White-faced Ibis. This bird is seen in the large flocks flying overhead. The narrow bill is often difficult to see in flight. They feed in flooding hay fields eatting crickets and other bugs along with the Cattle Egrets. This bird exhibits white at the base of it's bill only during breeding season.

Long-billed Curlew. This bird has one of the longest bills of any shore bird. It will be mixed in with White-faced Ibis and Cattle Egrets when the grass hay fields adjacent to Sunbeam are flood irrigated. It ranges throughout the West.

Ring-billed Gull. A common small gull found throughout the valley. Often seen in flooding fields looking for insects and at the Walmart parking lot.

Forster's Tern. This bird shows up now and then doing a flyby of both lakes in search of small fish near the surface. Take special notice of bill shape and color and the head pattern of all terns. Flys effortlessly on long narrow wings.

American White Pelican. This bird stops by Sunbeam Lake a few times during the winter. Many more of them spend time over at Fig Lagoon. Ocaisionally, a few will come into the upper lake at dusk and spend the night plying the waters. They feed while swimming, often with a group of birds 'herding' small fish to where they can be collected in their large pouch.

Red-tailed Hawk. North America's most common large raptor. Plumage pattern varies widely from light to dark but nearly always has reddish upper tail and a belly band across the breast. In flight, wings are held level.

White-faced Ibis. This bird is seen in the large flocks flying overhead. The narrow bill is often difficult to see in flight. They feed in flooding hay fields eatting crickets and other bugs along with the Cattle Egrets. This bird exhibits white at the base of it's bill only during breeding season.