The White-tailed Kite can be seen patrolling and hovering over grasslands, open scrub, and agricultural fields where it hunts small mammals like voles and mice using a unique hunting technique known as “kiting”, where it hovers motionless in the air facing into the wind scanning the ground for movement. Once sighted, it rapidly dives, feet [...]
Spotting a male Western Tanager as it flits through dense pine trees is both a challenge and a pure delight. The mid-sized songbird presents with a bright yellow body, black wings and an astonishing red head. The drabber female is duller, greenish yellow below with grayish back and wings. Western Tanagers nest in high montane [...]
House Finches are one of the most numerous and commonly seen and heard birds in our neighborhoods and trees filled residential parks.Although native to Mexico and the Southwest, they have rapidly expanded coast to coast due to introduction and colonization and are now the default finch in US urban and suburban settings. These adaptable seed [...]
The Peregrine Falcon is an extraordinary bird by every measure. Their worldwide range is more extensive than any other bird. They’re found on all continents except Antartica, inhabiting a wide variety of environments, including mountains, coastlines, river valleys, and increasingly urban areas. While historically cliff dwellers, they have adapted to nesting on tall buildings in [...]
The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a welcome local breeder to Southern California each spring. The eight inch Flycatcher spends the cold winter months in coastal Mexico and Central America before its annual return to breed in the arid southwest. It nests primarily in tree cavities excavated in previous nesting seasons by enterprising woodpeckers. The mated pair [...]
