A springtime stroll through the Urban Forest delights the senses with the overwhelming beauty of vibrantly colored wildflowers and sweetly scented blossoming trees and bushes. Yet, for many, it is the auditory delight of birdsong surging at dawn, continuing through to dusk that most assails our senses engendering curiosity as to which birds are singing [...]

Spring is quite literally in the air! The swift flying, aerially acrobatic Barn Swallow is a beloved, time-honored symbol for the arrival of spring throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere. A long distance migrating bird, North American Barn Swallows typically over-winter in South America, reappearing late March and April to breed in the springtime and in [...]

The stately Turkey Vulture makes an impactful appearance as it slowly glides in lazy circles high above the Urban Forest on a sunny day. This massive scavenger, with a wing span of six feet, rarely flaps its wings, conserving energy by riding on thermal updrafts of air, holding its broad dark wings in a V [...]

A winter walk through the core, densely tree-filled Urban Forest offers the opportunity to view the diminutive and spritely Ruby-crowned Kinglet that spends its winter months gleaning insects and tiny seeds in the mid to upper canopy of our lush abundant trees and leafy bushes. This tiny, oval shaped dynamo measures less than 4” and [...]

The small, active Yellow-rumped Warbler is our most abundant winter warbler. It flits energetically through the tree canopy and shrubs throughout the Urban Forest from October to April when it then migrates north to coniferous forests in higher elevations to breed in spring and summer months. True to its name, this warbler always shows a [...]