Audubon California staff surveying hedgerows in the Central Valley discovered this nest of four Loggerhead Shrike chicks among some Quailbush that had been planted specifically to help birds. Here’s a quick video below — you can hear the adult shrike asking us to leave: Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Millions of birds depend on habitat provided by California’s farms and ranches. Audubon California works with landowners to protect birds without diminishing the economic value of the land. We worked with over 100 partners last year, folks we like to call our farmer bird heroes. In appreciation for all that these heroes do, we asked [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

The Audubon Bobcat Ranch on Sept. 15 welcomed a fun group of volunteers to help collect acorns that our staff will later use for restoration projects. The volunteers included a few Girl Scouts, as well as graduate students from Kenya. The acorns from blue oaks and live oaks will be refrigerated and used to restore [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Richard Cimino snapped this cool photo of a Northern Pygmy Owl this week at the Audubon Bobcat Ranch, while leading a birding walk through the property. Cimino was leading a group from the Ohlone Audubon Society, where he is conservation chair. A total of 20 species were seen on the hike, including Black-throated Grey Warbler and [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

It’s always great when we go out to one of our habitat restoration sites and see something special. This morning, our team spotted a pair of Blue Grosbeaks singing at an Landowner Stewardship Program sites in Yolo County that we planted in 2006. Once a lifeless corner, the site is now lush with tall cottonwoods [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

The Savannah Sparrow is arriving to its California summer digs in large numbers. The bird was discovered in Savannah, Georgia — hence the name — but the passerine is found all over the US. In the winter the songbird lives in the south and in the summer can be found as far north as Barrow, Alaska. [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

When we talk about spring migration, obviously we talk a lot about birds. So sometimes we forget to mention another key participant – trees. For many of the birds coming to California to breed – the orioles, warblers, hawks, and many others – trees are an essential ingredient to survival and success in the spring. That is [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Another of the great raptors in California (as well as North America and beyond, for that matter) is the Northern Harrier. Unlike a lot of the raptors we see riding high on the thermals, the Northern Harrier swoops down low over the upland grasses and marshes where it finds food, cover, and nesting. The Northern [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

One of the most distinctive shorebirds you’ll ever see in California will be the Long-billed Curlew. It’s the largest North American shorebird, but that’s probably not what will catch your attention. Instead it will be its awesome beak, a perfect example of adaptive evolution, and an essential tool for the bird to dig out the [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

The National Resources Conservation Services this week was awarded the California Rice Commission’s Circle of Life award for a groundbreaking program that offered monetary incentives to rice farmers to improve habitat on their lands for migratory birds. Audubon California (through the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership) was a major player in both encouraging the NRCS to take [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

While some of us at Audubon California are sitting at our desks writing blog posts, a good number of our staff are out in the field. the photos below are from our ongoing monitoring of experiments to see how birds respond to varying levels of water left in Central Valley rice fields. Usual practice is [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

PG&E  celebrated the Wildlife Habitat Council’s Community Partner of the Year award co-won by Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program and the Center for Land-Based Learning with a presentation of the award to the two partner organizations at PG&E’s property in Pleasant Creek in Yolo County on Wednesday, February 8. The prestigious award was given out [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Audubon California’s Monica Iglecia talks about the importance of rice farms to Central Valley shorebirds in this video created by the California Rice Commission: Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

We’re at the Colusa Farm Show today talking with local farmers about how they can provide great bird habitat on their property without diminishing productivity. Pictured above (and larger below the fold), are Audubon California’s Monica Iglecia and Keiller Kyle. We’re there as part of our work with the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership, which also [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]

Audubon California had a great day in the San Joaquin Valley last week, planting a new habitat restoration site on property owned by the Lange Twins Wine Company. Working with private landowners is one of our key strategies for increasing the amount of useful bird habitat statewide. We used this opportunity to teach students from [...]

Share on Facebook

[Read more →]