Pasadena Audubon Society
About Birding in and around Pasadena
Please make a selection from the Habitat Menu:Return to Main Menu
Introduction
Pasadena, nestled as it is against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, has easy access to a variety of habitats. Some such as the chaparral or the coastal sage scrub are unique to California. Others have their special season-- The habitat pagesReturn to Main Menu or Habitat MenuGOOD BIRDING!
Montane Forest Habitat
Description Begins above 5000' in the San Gabriel Mountains along Angeles Crest Highway (Hwy 2). Contains bigcone spruce, canyon oak, Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, incense cedar and white fir.Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (and season if not year round)
- Mountain quail
- Pygmy and white-breasted nuthatches
- Green-tailed towhee
- Golden-crowned kinglet (winter)
- Brown creeper
- Purple finch
- Western tanager (summer)
- Steller's jay
- Red-breasted sapsucker (summer)
- Mountain Chickadee
- Fox sparrow
Locations (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Charlton Flats Picnic Area: look for the nursery tree near the restroom
- Chilao Visitor Center: look at the feeders near the building and the nursery tree across the stream
- Buckhorn Campground: best at the entrance near the bridge over the stream
Oak Woodland Habitat
Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuDescription Found on the gentle slopes of the foothills and in canyons up to 5000'. Contains canyon oak, Engelmann oak, interior live oak, coast live oak and California walnut.
Specialty Birds (and season if not year round)
Locations (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Acorn woodpecker
- Nuttall's woodpecker
- the western warblers (Nashville, black-throated gray, Wilson's, Townsend's, Audubon's, and orange-crowned) (spring)
- Oak titmouse
- California jay
- Band-tailed pigeon
- Bushtit
- Black-headed grosbeak (summer)
- Hahamongna Watershed Park, formerly Oak Grove County Park
- Eaton Canyon
- Descanso Gardens
- Los Angeles County Arboretum
- Rancho Santa Ana: a little far away; has, by far, the largest remnant of this habitat in the area
Chaparral Habitat
Description Found on the hot, dry, south facing slopes of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Plants are chest height, dense, prickly, and evergreen; typically contains chamise, yucca, ceanothus, scrub oak, laurel sumac, sages white and black, poison oak, and in the higher elevations, manzanita and mountain mahogany.Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (and season if not year round)
Location (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- the eponymous Wrentit
- California thrasher
- Bewick's wren
- Audubon's warbler (winter)
- Spotted towhee
- California quail
- Mt. Wilson Toll Road: delightful in winter after a light snowfall from the top down
- Henninger Flats Trail: best in the spring in the early morning
- Eaton Canyon: trailhead for the above; a little bit of everything (except montane forest)
Riparian Woodland Habitat
Description Found in narrow strips in the foothill canyons and broader areas where the streams meet the valley. Contains California sycamore, white alder, Fremont cottonwood, various species of willow, and in the canyons, California bay and bigleaf maple.Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (and season if not year round)
- American dipper
- Canyon wren
- Ash-throated flycatcher (summer)
- Pacific-slope flycatcher (summer)
- Downy woodpecker
- Western bluebird
- Swainson's thrush (summer)
- Orange-crowned warbler
- Common yellowthroat
- Red-shouldered hawk
Location (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Switzer Picnic Area: on the edge of the montane, chaparral and riparian habitats with a great variety of birds
- Upper Arroyo Seco: splendid old trees, always rewarding, but beware the mountain bikers
- Lower Arroyo Seco: new, just built as a result of mitigation, worth watching, the dogs and horses, too, a few great old trees where hawks perch
- Santa Anita Canyon: has everything, including dippers, and black swifts, if you wait
Suburban Habitat
Description Generally parks and other public spaces with many non-native trees and enclosed by residential areas.Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (and season if not year round)
Locations (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Parrots, many species
- Spotted dove
- Northern mockingbird
- Hooded oriole (summer)
- Anna's hummingbird
- Allen's hummingbird (summer)
- Red-whiskered bulbul*
- Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens: has many different species of birds including exotics because of a great variety of plantings; cactus gardens very good for birding in January*
- Live Oak Park (from Rosemead Blvd. go east three blocks on Daines Ave.) in Temple City: has parrots
- Pasadena Glen (past the Eaton Canyon Golf Course on Sierra Madre Villa Ave., right on Vosburg St.): a small treasure, best during spring migration
Reservoir and Lakes Habitat
Description Found within large parks and at the canyon mouths. Very good for gulls, grebes, waders, and waterfowl in fall and winter.Return to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (season late fall and winter unless otherwise stated)
- American wigeon
- Western and Clark's grebe
- Wood duck (year round)
- Canada geese
- Ducks
- Gulls
- all the common egrets and herons
Locations (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Santa Fe Dam south
- Peck Park: has a variety of gulls and ducks
- Descanso Gardens
- Almansor Park: here, one can get very close up to the birds; mostly grazers
- The Arboretum of Los Angeles County
Coastal Sage Scrub Habitat
Description Found on dry, gravelly slopes of alluvial fans; plants well spaced, low growing, typically includes wild buckwheat, coastal sagebrush, cholla and prickly pear cactus, coyote brush, and black and white sage; often blends into chaparralReturn to Main Menu or Habitat MenuSpecialty Birds (and season if not year round)
- Cactus wren
- Blue-gray gnatcatcher
- California towhee
Locations for the alluvial subtype (click here for directions and fuller descriptions)
- Santa Fe Dam north; last extensive area
- Tujunga Wash
Local Information
- Where to Bird in and around Pasadena--a clickable map with descriptions
- For a map and specific directions to your desired location go to http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py
- Current weather reports available at http://www.nwsla.noaa.gov/forecast.html
URL: http://www.PasadenaAudubon.org/habitats.html | Email: paudubon@yahoo.com