Birding

Black-crowned Night Heron with frog

Shipley Nature Center provides some of the best year-round birding in Southern California. The mix of Oak Woodland, Torrey Pines, meadows, Riparian, Sycamore-Alder Grove and Coastal Sage Scrub habitats make Shipley one of the best places in Orange County to spot a variety of songbirds. There are abundant numbers of California native plants which supply nectar to hummingbirds and wrens. Old groves of Redwood Forest and Coast Live Oak attract foraging raptors. Mature willows around the natural, freshwater pond draw grebes, herons, coots and ducks. The Great Egret Project by Madeline Austin

For the next generation of bird watchers and surveyors, we have purchased children’s binoculars as loaners during their experiences at Shipley to broaden their focus for bird identification and learning.  That has been made possible by a grant from The Los Angeles Breakfast Club in the amount of $1,500 for environmental education.

Huntington Central Park–Shipley Nature Center, Orange, California, US
April 28, 2023 8:09 AM – 10:03 AM
38 species
Group 1
Canada Goose  3
Mallard  8
Pied-billed Grebe  3
Mourning Dove  2
Allen’s Hummingbird  14
Virginia Rail  1
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  17
Snowy Egret  1
Green Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Nuttall’s Woodpecker  2
Pacific-slope Flycatcher  1
American Crow  6
Tree Swallow  7
Bushtit (Pacific)  6
Swinhoe’s White-eye  4
House Wren  5
Cedar Waxwing  16
House Finch  5
Lesser Goldfinch  3
Song Sparrow  6
California Towhee  5
Spotted Towhee  1
Hooded Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  11
Great-tailed Grackle  1
Orange-crowned Warbler  6
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s)  2
Black-throated Gray Warbler  1
Townsend’s Warbler  1
Wilson’s Warbler  1
Western Tanager  3
Black-headed Grosbeak  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S135324609

Huntington Central Park–Shipley Nature Center, Orange, California, US
April 28, 2023 8:09 AM – 10:19 AM.
30 species
Group 2
Canada Goose  2
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  1
Anna’s Hummingbird  2
Allen’s Hummingbird  11
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  19     19 active nests
Downy Woodpecker  2
Pacific-slope Flycatcher  3
Hutton’s Vireo  1
American Crow  7
Tree Swallow  5
Bushtit  8
Swinhoe’s White-eye  11
House Wren  7
Western Bluebird  3
Cedar Waxwing  50
Lesser Goldfinch  2
American Goldfinch  5
Song Sparrow  13
California Towhee  4
Spotted Towhee  2
Hooded Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Orange-crowned Warbler  7
Common Yellowthroat  4
Yellow Warbler  1
Wilson’s Warbler  2
Western Tanager  2
Black-headed Grosbeak  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S135324620

These fine people conduct the monthly bird survey. On average 37 species are observed.

Volunteers do a bird count on the last Friday of the month which is recorded on the bird board. There is also a Field Form for visitors to record sightings of birds. For information on volunteering for the bird surveys, visit our Volunteer page.

Swinhoe’s White-eye

Bell’s Vireo

Pied-billed Grebe

Norther Flicker

Red-shouldered Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Northern Flicker (red-shafted)

Downey Woodpecker

Western Wood-Pewee

White-tailed Kite

Tree Swallow

Song Sparrow

Blue Bird

Wilson’s Warbler

Osprey

Anna’s Hummingbird Nest

Hutton’s Vireo

Orange-crowned Warbler

Great Egret in breeding plumage

Hermit Warbler

Townsend’s Warbler

Western Kingbird

Green Heron

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Canada Goose

Sora

Sora

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak