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Boreal Birds of the Los Angeles Area (view list)
When you think of LA do you think of vast cool spruce forests and muskeg bogs? You might not, but there are at least 60 species of birds wintering near or migrating through LA every year that have such places on their minds.
The lonely wail of a Common Loon echoing across a boreal lake is surely a symbol of the boreal wilderness but did you know that the species winters along the coast of California including the coastal regions of LA? Places like Point Vicente and Point Fermin are good places to watch for them. Thick-bodied seaducks like the boreal breeding Surf and White-winged Scoters that dive for clams and mussels in the waves and bays of Newport Beach during the winter have declined by 60% over the last 25 years.
The Golden-crowned Sparrow that arrives at your backyard feeder every October may have whistled its clear song from a territory deep in the heart of the Canada's Yukon throughout the summer.
Some species that raised young in the boreal forest have stopped off to feed in the LA region on their way to wintering grounds in Central and South America. For example, a Cliff Swallow winging south in September may have departed Canada in August and be in Peru by November.
