Bird Survey – March 2024

Urban Forest Monthly Survey
March 28, 2024
40 Species, 327 Individuals

The weather today was cold, in the 50s, overcast but calm. Lena Hayashi, Betty Kanne (eBird), Jim Kendall, Dave and Sharon Telford, Brenda Sabin, Debra Gala, Deborah Brin, and Brian Bleecker counted all the birds heard and seen in the Urban Forest.

The overcast skies didn’t dull the vibrant colors of the spring blooms throughout the Urban Forest. Again, the most vocal of all the species was the House Wren. They were singing from every direction and scolding sounds were also heard.

One American Robin was heard singing by the creek along Ellis and was seen flying and calling. There were no American Goldfinches today, unlike last month when they were more numerous than the Lesser Goldfinches. Everyone had wonderful looks of a singing Dark-eyed Junco near Annie’s Garden.

A large flock of Tree Swallows circled the sky and most of them headed toward Huntington Lake. However, a sizeable number of paired stragglers continued to check out the nest boxes in the Urban Forest. One pair seemed very set on the nest box on a tree in Mimi’s Garden. Both the male and female perched on branches as if protecting their find from others. The other pair chose a nest box just west of the Volunteer parking lot that in previous years had nesting Western Bluebirds. A pair of Western Bluebirds did investigate a newly built nest box on the hill near the hawk foraging area. They also perched on the branches as if to claim their find. It will be interesting to check these three boxes in the next two months to see if they are successful parents.

It is such a pleasure to conduct these monthly surveys as we can appreciate the tender loving care and artistic talents of the volunteers who place plants, rocks, and limbs of trees in such beautiful arrangements for us to enjoy! We truly notice and appreciate their efforts in sharing their labor of love with us!

We had a wonderful opportunity to use our knowledge and skills of birding to work on the identification of two look-alike birds, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet and the Hutton’s Vireo. The gray sky and foliage, the silent bird(s), along with photos, led to the conclusion that we had one of each. Within the corral of trees, a bird was seen in a Coastal Live Oak, flitting around and most of us had glimpses, leading to a lively discussion of which species it was. One wing bar was seen by several and that led to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet but others saw two wing bars. When it was gone, another bird was seen in another Coastal Live Oak, relatively close to the first. It was heard to make one “scree” scold, leading toward a Hutton’s Vireo. However, both have “scree” scolds. Lengthy bantering went on about the two sightings, was the bill swollen or thin, toes gray or yellowish, where was the dark bar, was the flitting frenetic enough? Was there one or were there two birds? Ahh, the joy of birding among friends!

Below are the species and their numbers. Click the checklist below to enjoy photos taken by the photographers. Once online, you can also click the name of the bird, printed in blue, to open with more information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology including what sounds the bird makes and its status and distribution.

Checklist S163279388

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Main details

Thu 29 Feb 2024 8:06 AM

Location Huntington Central Park–Urban Forest

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Region

Orange County

California

United States

Additional details

People

Owner James Kendall +5 Others

Other participating eBirders

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Effort

Protocol: Traveling

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Observers: 6
Duration: 2 hr, 28 min
Distance: 1.79 mi

Checklist Comments

Submitted from eBird for iOS, version 2.20.28class=”u-text-1 u-margin-none”>

Totals

Species Observed

272 individuals

Species with Photos

Observations

Canada Goose

Number observed: 4
Mallard

Number observed: 2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)

Number observed: 6

Exotic: Naturalized
Eurasian Collared-Dove

Number observed: 5

Exotic: Naturalized

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Mourning Dove

Number observed: 2
Anna’s Hummingbird

Number observed: 7

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Allen’s Hummingbird

Number observed: 15

Breeding & Behavior Code:
C Courtship, Display, or Copulation (Probable)

Media

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Ring-billed Gull

Number observed: 2
Double-crested Cormorant

Number observed: 2
Turkey Vulture

Number observed: 1
Cooper’s Hawk

Number observed: 2

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Red-shouldered Hawk

Number observed: 1

Media

© James Kendall Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Red-tailed Hawk

Number observed: 1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker

Number observed: 1
American Kestrel

Number observed: 1
Black Phoebe

Number observed: 3
Say’s Phoebe

Number observed: 2

Media

© James Kendall Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Cassin’s Kingbird

Number observed: 2
American Crow

Number observed: 18
Tree Swallow

Number observed: 2
Barn Swallow

Number observed: 1
Bushtit

Number observed: 10
Swinhoe’s White-eye

Number observed: 4

Exotic: Provisional
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Number observed: 1
House Wren

Number observed: 16

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
European Starling

Number observed: 9

Exotic: Naturalized
Northern Mockingbird

Number observed: 1
Western Bluebird

Number observed: 6

Media

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Hermit Thrush

Number observed: 1
House Finch

Number observed: 42
Lesser Goldfinch

Number observed: 6
American Goldfinch

Number observed: 10

Media

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
White-crowned Sparrow

Number observed: 7
Song Sparrow

Number observed: 12
California Towhee

Number observed: 4

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

© James Kendall Macaulay Library
Spotted Towhee

Number observed: 2
Western Meadowlark

Number observed: 21
Red-winged Blackbird

Number observed: 8
Great-tailed Grackle

Number observed: 1
Orange-crowned Warbler

Number observed: 8
Common Yellowthroat

Number observed: 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Number observed: 18

Media

© Lena Hayashi Macaulay Library

Exotic species

Exotic species flags differentiate locally introduced species from native species.

Naturalized: Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).

Provisional: Either: 1) member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized; 2) rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible. When applicable, eBird generally defers to bird records committees for records formally considered to be of “uncertain provenance”. Provisional species count in official eBird totals.

Escapee: Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have bred but don’t yet fulfill the criteria for Provisional. Escapee exotics do not count in official eBird totals.

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Sensitive

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