Interested in which birds are around during Spring and Summer? Check out the Spring Edition of 25 Birds of Our Patch – The Redwood Forest & Russian River here!
We live in a beautiful forested area dominated by Coast Redwoods and Douglas-firs near the Russian River in Northern California. We bird our home patch daily, walking through our neighborhood to a fire road that winds through dense conifer forest. With winter soon drawing to a close, we wanted to share some of the species we’re fortunate to encounter on a normal day.
We’ll start with three birds we only see during winter before they head north to their breeding grounds.
1. Townsend’s Warbler
This beautiful warbler adds a much-appreciated pop of color during the gray winter months. We noticed this lovely female in a redwood next to our balcony while drinking coffee one morning.
2. Varied Thrush
Redwood Region Ornithological Society’s founding member Mike Parmeter recently recounted to us that he knew Varied Thrushes as “Wood Robins” while growing up near the Russian River. We feel “Wood Robin” fits perfectly, as we regularly find flocks of them buried deep in the dark woods during winter. Standing stationary one day, we counted no less than 14 individuals in a single spot.
3. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
In winter, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flits at every turn along our walk. In case we didn’t notice their wing-flicking and constant branch acrobatics, they often reveal themselves by their furious, typewriter-sounding “chit-chit-chit-chit-chit” scold.
And now for the rest… The following birds make the redwood forest their permanent home – just like us!
4. Anna’s Hummingbird
A couple Anna’s Hummingbirds live in our yard, and one often sits on the clothesline that hangs directly in front of our living room window. Their fierce defense of our flowering maples only intensifies during the last months of winter when Rufous and Allen’s Hummingbirds start to appear.
5. Turkey Vulture
There seem to be several Turkey Vultures in the sky at any given moment around our heavily wooded neighborhood, sniffing out their next carrion meal. We often wonder if they’d be revered for their majesty, if only they had feathers on their heads.
6. Red-shouldered Hawk
At least one of these gorgeous hawks lives near our house, and we occasionally catch a glimpse of it circling above our place. One lucky day, we noticed it perched in the giant Doug-fir right outside our living room window! Though, more often we just hear their distinct, ringing call from above the canopy while walking in the woods.
7. Acorn Woodpecker
We used to have a dead tree in our backyard where a family of Acorn Woodpeckers congregated. Unfortunately, a storm felled the tree a couple years ago, and we lost our daily living-room-looks at these silly clowns. Luckily, they didn’t move far and they’re still a staple of our patch.
8. Hutton’s Vireo
We see these Ruby-crowned Kinglet doppelgängers throughout our patch, and just love hearing their funny, wheezy call. During a warm, sunny stretch of days in January, the Hutton’s in our ‘hood began singing. They stopped when the rain returned, but we’re looking forward to them singing again soon for actual spring.
9. Steller’s Jay
Ahhh, the Steller’s Jay – the ubiquitous noise-maker of the redwood forest – we can’t go ten feet without hearing a “WEK-WEK-WEK!” These jays have a remarkable repertoire of sounds, including some quiet warbles, gurgles, buzzes, and mumbles. Also in their bag of tricks is a Red-shouldered Hawk impression. Contrast this with the real Red-shouldered Hawk call from #6 above, which we recorded the very same day… not too shabby!
10. California Scrub-Jay
Last fall, a California Scrub-Jay moved to our house and is now a daily fixture on the telephone wire. Our friend Jen likened a Scrubber’s “AYE-AYE!” call to the intro to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” and now we can never hear it otherwise!
11. Common Raven
A walk in our redwoods wouldn’t be complete without a standard “BRONK-BRONK-BRONK” from above. However, our favorite sound is this less common, “knocking” vocalization. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America, this call is only given by females. Listen closely for the quiet, bill-snapping noise between knocking sounds.
12. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
With breeding season approaching, we’re excited for the coming “Chickadee Explosion!!!” – the multi-week period when large groups of Chickadees with fledglings in tow move noisily about our patch.
13. Pygmy Nuthatch
We feel so lucky to see and hear these hyperactive birds daily. They descend upon our neighbors’ feeder en masse, and we delight in watching these tiny nuthatches noisily flit back and forth between feeder and branch.
14. Brown Creeper
This tiny, egg-shaped piece of moving bark is North America’s only treecreeper, and is one of Teresa’s favorite birds. Their sweet song, “tree, tree, bea-u-ti-ful tree” is a staple in spring. Though winter lingers on, we’re excited they’re already singing in our area.
15. Pacific Wren
The Pacific Wren’s “smack-smack” double-note call is a loud and distinct sound bursting from the redwood duff. We absolutely love these teeny, camouflaged birds. They’re hard to spot, but they move around constantly and often pop out if you look long enough.
16. Hermit Thrush
These normally secretive birds grow bolder in winter, and can often be seen out in the open eating berries. Last November, we observed three Hermit Thrushes chase each other through bramble while making uncommon calls and song snippets. Perhaps they were three juvenile birds?
17. American Robin
Many a winter day, we watched this American Robin devour berries in its favorite Pyracantha shrub in front of our house. Often, we’d also catch it sitting tucked away in the adjacent California Bay performing a quiet subsong.
18. Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)
These hardy sparrows are fairly tame and sometimes hop around our deck with our dog snoozing just feet away. While walking in the woods, we often hear the light tinkles of a flock as they flush into the brush, flashing their conspicuous white tail edges.
19. Spotted Towhee
Is that a wildebeest charging down the hillside? No, that’s just a darling Spotted Towhee making a ruckus under the brush. Spotted Towhees scratch at leaf-litter with both feet, displacing the top layer to uncover arthropods below. We always get a laugh from the out-sized sound this “double-scratch” foraging method produces.
20. California Towhee
We have a moon-sized soft spot for the drab California Towhee who lives in front of our house. Maybe it’s because his “TINK!” is often the first sound we hear upon waking, or maybe it’s because our underdog bias makes us protective of this often-overlooked charmer. One morning, we laid in bed for an hour listening to him sing his heart out, trying to attract a mate. You can hear 12 minutes of his performance below.
It’s good to know the neighborhood birds. Sonoma County has so many different little micro-habitats.
So true – we only have to go a few miles down the road to get a whole new mix of birds! Sonoma County’s biodiversity is really special.
I adore your photographs and love learning the sounds too.
Hi Connie! Thanks so much, we appreciate that =)