Western Scrub Jays, Great Horned Owls, House Finches, and some Red-Crowned Parrots: You might see and/or hear all of these birds while strolling through tree-filled, arroyo-lush parts of Southern California during a brisk winter twilight.
Sharing our fun sightings with our bird-loving friends is always a delight, but as the end of the year approaches there is another way to spread your wings while spreading the word about our region’s incredible avian population: By participating in a Christmas Bird Count.
The Audubon Society’s annual look-around, note-what-you-observe event just opened for the 2025-2026 season, and it concludes Jan. 5.
That should give you ample time to step into your yard, or a local park, or head to a specific spot, all to discover what colorful and cool critters may be flocking, chittering, pecking, and cooing in the vicinity.
The community science effort helps research, of course, and broadening our understanding of the natural world is always a positive.
Tips on how to join a count, and where to upload your photos and observations, are available on this site.
Some local groups will hold happenings on specific dates, including the Pasadena Audubon Society. If you’d like to join the society’s 2025 Christmas Bird Count, it is taking place Dec. 20.
Nope, you don’t have to be a member to participate, though membership is always encouraged.
Other bird counts take flight in the wintertime, including a bald eagle count in the Tahoe Basin.
And the Great Backyard Bird Count, which was launched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society nearly three decades ago, will flutter-flutter from Feb. 13-16, 2026.
Wherever you scan the skies or pause to admire the feathery flyers that soar around your area, wintertime is a grand time to get outside and connect with nature.
Helping science to know the jays and owls and eagles even better is a beautiful bonus, a love letter to the future, nature, and the planet.