Our Neighborhood Birds

Check out our focal species for Project Phoenix! These birds are commonly found in late summer and early fall in the western U.S.

Some of these species have more limited ranges than others. Which ones could you observe at your monitoring site? Click on the links below to learn more about each species, including where they’re found, fun facts, and tips for identification!

A pigeon, with a gray body and green neck, standing on a red cement block.
A scrub jay, with turquoise feathers on its tail, wings, and head, mixed with brown feathers, sits on top of a pole in a field.
A small gray bird, a bushtit, perched on top of a leafy branch.
A mockingbird, with a light underbelly and brown wings, perched on a large succulent leaf.
A male dark-eyed Junco, with a black head and brown body, standing in grass.
A lesser goldfinch, with a yellow chest and gray head, perched on the edge of a branch.
An Allen’s hummingbird, with orange, gray, and white coloring, perched on top of a thin leafy branch.
A mourning dove standing on the top of a brown, wooden fence.
A raven crouching down to grab a small brown object on the ground.
A european starling, black with white-tipped feathers and a yellow beak, perched along a slanted piece of wood.
Two house sparrows, a male and female, perched on a metal and wooden post. The male is perched above the female, with a light underbelly and orange, brown, and red accents on its body. The female is perched below the male, with muted brown coloring.
A California Towhee, a small round bird with light brown coloring, perched on a metal chainlink fence.
Nuttall's Woodpecker perched on the side of the trunk of a tree. The Woodpecker has a banded white pattern along the dark brown of its head and wings.
A red-tailed hawk in mid-flight. Its wings are stretched out to reveal its light underbelly and under-wing, red-brown tail feathers, and red-brown head.
A black phoebe, a small bird with a dark head and back and white underbelly, standing on a wooden post.
A crow walking along a wooden railing.
A bewick’s wren, with a light underbelly, brown body, and white “eyebrow” markings, perched on the edge of a wooden post.
A song sparrow, with a speckled underbelly and brown body, stands on a wooden post, beak open mid-song.
Two house finches, a male, who is gray with red coloring, and a female, who is gray, perched next to each other on a bare tree branch.
A small Anna's Hummingbird, with a black face, gray-green underbelly, dark wings, and pink head, sits on a bare tree branch.

Photos of Allen’s Hummingbird and Bewick’s Wren by Becky Matsubara. CC BY 2.0