Passing of Barbara Combs

Long-time Lane County birder Barbara Combs passed away on April 21, 2023, at the age of 75. Barb was originally from New Jersey and came to Oregon in 1972 to get her PhD in psychology at the UO.

She was active in bluebird recovery efforts, Christmas Bird Counts, eBirding, and raptor counts in western Oregon. She volunteered in various roles, including as the Oregon Field Ornithologist treasurer and archivist, as well as writing sections of Birds of Oregon and Birds of Lane County. Barb reached 100 species in every Oregon county in 1986, the same year as Dennis Rogers. The two of them were the first to do so.

In 2014 she was inspired by the OSU Oregon 2020 project and started eBirding frequently, with a focus on lots of short complete stationary checklists. She continued to eBird for the next several years and was the top eBird contributor in the world in 2018! Lane County is one of the most frequently eBirded counties in the United States, largely due to her efforts. She was a distinctive and highly independent person, had a great sense of humor, and was a good researcher and an excellent field observer.

Submitted by her friends and fellow birders, Vjera Thompson and Alan Contreras