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 [...]

Each day throughout the year, observant visitors to the Urban Forest and its surrounding gardens are treated to the fascinating spectacle of tiny dynamic aerialists that suddenly appear as hovering iridescent jewels as they dart from blossom to blossom, urgently seeking and sipping life-sustaining nectar. Two species of hummingbirds make this park their year-round home. [...]

This fierce, locally common raptor is known by many different names throughout North America, including the chicken hawk, striker, and flying cross. It is a crow-sized hawk. It is often identified by its proportionally large flat head, long and banded tail feathers, and fierce hunting habits under the canopy of wooded forests where they use [...]