Not long ago, I travelled to Ecuador on a mythic quest to see as much of the country, its natural wonders, and its 1,600+ species of birds as possible over a 28-day trip. In short, to find my Shangri-La, my Utopia, my Garden of Eden!
Rare Bird Alert - April 28, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Long-tailed Duck | White-winged Dove | American Oystercatcher | Pacific Golden-Plover | Red-footed Booby | Cattle Egret | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Broad-winged Hawk | Blue-headed Vireo | Purple Martin | Harris’s Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Hooded Warbler | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager | Indigo Bunting
Rare Bird Alert - April 22, 2023
Rare Bird Alert - April 14, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Sandhill Crane | Franklin’s Gull | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | California Condor | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Ladder-backed x Hairy Woodpecker | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | Pacific Wren | Clay-colored Sparrow | Harris’s Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Orchard Oriole | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Summer Tanager
Rare Bird Alert - April 7, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Sandhill Crane | Franklin’s Gull | Brown Booby | Neotropic Cormorant | California Condor | Zone-tailed Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Purple Martin | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Palm Warbler
Rare Bird Alert - March 31, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Sandhill Crane | California Condor | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Tropical kingbird | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Bank Swallow | Purple Martin | Pacific Wren | Harris’s Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Orchard Oriole | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Painted Redstart | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager
Rare Bird Alert - March 24, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Surf Scoter | Red-necked Grebe | Inca Dove | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | California Condor | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | “Prairie” Merlin | “Black” Merlin | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Lapland Longspur | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Harris’s Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Orchard Oriole | Baltimore Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager
Rare Bird Alert - March 17, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | White-winged Dove | Sandhill Crane | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Ancient Murrelet | Manx Shearwater | California Condor | Zone-tailed Hawk | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Pacific Wren | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Baltimore Oriole | Scott’s Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Nashville Warbler |Palm Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager
Rare Bird Alert - March 10, 2023
TUNDRA BEAN-GOOSE | Red-necked Grebe | White-winged Dove | Sandhill Crane | Tufted Puffin | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Brown Booby | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Northern “Yellow-shafted” Flicker | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Least Flycatcher | Hammond’s Flycatcher | Pacific Wren | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Dark-eyed “Gray-headed” Junco | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Scott’s Oriole | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Palm Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager
An Urban Forest for the Birds
A fact that has stuck with me from the research for the Los Angeles County Breeding Bird Atlas in the 1990s is that there was not a single neighborhood in the county that did not have at least ten breeding bird species. Residents can enjoy birds wherever they live. But beyond that minimum, the number of birds that are found in developed neighborhoods across the region depends on the number of trees, their size, species, and diversity, and associated landscaping.