Each year I await the opportunity to participate in Christmas Bird Counts for many reasons. While I spend many days throughout the year birding, I generally do it solo. I have participated in six counts this season and enjoyed every single one of them because of the birds and the opportunity to see old friends. [...]

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We’ve been talking a lot about Vaux’s Swifts lately, but couldn’t help share this video of White-throated Swifts greeting a group of rock climbers at Agony Arch in Riverside earlier this month. Who says that birding isn’t an adventure sport? Share on Facebook

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As natural wildlife spectacles go, it’s hard to beat the migration of the Vaux’s Swift (Vaux’s rhymes with Foxes). By itself an unglamorous gray bird, the Vaux’s Swift becomes  the stuff of psychedelic imagination when it groups with thousands churning and swirling friends. As it moves southward in the fall, it roosts by the thousands [...]

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Our Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County has had a camera on a Black-chinned Hummingbird nest for several years now. It’s not active at the moment, but a few years back we put together a compilation from the camera showing just how fast the birds grow. It’s pretty awesome: Share on Facebook

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We love Halloween around Audubon and can’t help but applaud those who take their love of birds to the next level by dressing as one for Halloween. Below are some of our favorites: Share on Facebook

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Our colleagues at the Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County always find interesting stuff when they do bird banding. But last week, they outdid themselves. Not only did they find some cool birds, but they also encountered a serious reptile. We’ll let Jennifer Wilcox, the sanctuary’s ornithologist tell the story from here: Share on [...]

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The San Joaquin Kit Fox is one of the species expected to benefit from the San Joaquin River Restoration. This petite mammal was a common site in the San Joaquin Valley a hundred years ago, but loss of habitat has shrunk its numbers. Go to http://imfortheriver.org/ if you think this cute fox deserves a fighting chance. Share [...]

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With more than 8,500 species of birds in the world, there is a lot to know about birds. But the typical person doesn’t need to go all ornithologist to get by. In fact, if you just know these 15 things about birds, you’ll probably be set for most situations. After you read the list, let [...]

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The Hermit Thrush is one of the most widely distributed forest-nesting, migratory birds in North America. California is welcoming these birds back to their breeding habitats this Pacific Migration and are being reported in the state’s coniferous and mixed woodlands. What makes this bird different from its brother and sister thrushes is that it is [...]

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Birders and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power staff gathered early on the morning of April 25 in Lone Pine in Owens Valley to get route assignments for our annual survey to count all the birds in the 110 square miles of Owens Lake. Faces are starting to look familiar now that I’ve participated [...]

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(Photo by Tim Bowman/USFWS) Who’s that yodeling their way up North? A Swiss milkmaid? No. Jewel? No.  The yodeling sensation currently making it’s way from South to North is the the Pacific Loon! Flocks of thousands of these Gavias are making their way to their grounds in Alaska where it will spend just three months breeding. [...]

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So, everyone’s heard “Surfin’ Bird,” by the Trashmen. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard charts in 1963, and remains for some the ultimate pop culture combination of birds and surfing.  But for someone who grew up surfing in Southern California, the two will always be inextricably linked. Because when you’re sitting out there on [...]

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On Saturday, Dec. 18, photographer Jose Echevarria was driving along Highway 161 in Northern California, when he came across what appeared to be a wounded animal in the road. Here’s how the rest transpired in both his words and photographs: Share on Facebook

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Those of you who enjoyed watching the Audubon Starr Ranch Barn Owls via live webcam last year will be glad to know that the owls are back. So far, they’ve laid five eggs, which means that we’ll have owlets before too long. You can watch it all live here. Enjoy. Share on Facebook

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