Sat. Oct 5th, 2024

By Donna Westfall March 22, 2021 – Picture credit to Birds of Del Norte and Curry County Facebook page

Part of the natural beauty around Del Norte County are the huge variety of birds. Were you lucky enough to go around as a kid and have someone point out the different varieties of birds? Did you ever own a parakeet, canary or love birds? They’re nice companions in the house. Also nice to see birds out in the open.

Winter 2021:

Butterbutt


House Finches

Hermit Thrust

Pacific Wren

You can go to “rare bird sightings” at this web address” ebird.org/alert and find out what has been sighted the last seven days. For instance on March 16, 2021, a Northern Shrike was spotted by Lake Earl Wildlife area ..Teal Point.

You don’t need to drive out to Lake Earl, you can find them in your own backyard right in Crescent City. On March 19th, two people saw a Common Grackle (Bronzed) right on Wendell Street by West 8th Street.

There are over 430 different bird species in our area. Here’s just a few you can look up.
Purple Finches
American Goldfinches
House Sparrows
Black-Capped Chickadees
Dark-Eyed Junkos “Snowbirds”
Redwing Blackbirds
American Crows
Eurasian Collared Doves “Mourning Doves”
Besides all the Pigeons and Seagulls and Blackbirds around our area, we have
Common Ravens
American Robins
Black-Chinned Hummingbirds

Feeders and bird baths may be responsible for increasing the spread of a disease that has already killed thousands of birds throughout the state of California this winter. An outbreak of salmonellosis, a disease caused by salmonella bacteria and passed through fecal contact, is killing birds that winter from Orange County, up to the Oregon-California border, and into Nevada. Some people are taking down their bird feeders and bird baths to avoid having this spread. It mostly targets finches. It’s recommended taking down the feeders and bird baths until late May.

3 thoughts on “Birds of Del Norte County”
  1. Donna I’m a bird feeder … I actually feed Grey Jays that are indigenous to where I live on Church Tree Rd… even people who live at the bottom of ChurchTree Rd, never see a Grey Jay they are very sweet birds they will eat right out of my hand! They really like almost all people food … especially peanut butter… plus they are very nice to all the birds nothing like the Steller Blue Jays who have a bunch of feathers on top of their heads and peck at all the other birds that are trying to eat… I also feed Suet which they all like Especially Squirrels, Chipmunks and almost all other birds… it’s not an inexpensive hobby costing about $200 a month but I really enjoy it also you cats love to watch through the sliders and are mesmerized by all action on your decks!

  2. Another good guide to local bird watching is “A Birdfinding Guide to Del Norte County, California” by Alan D. Barron, a resident of Crescent City. One might also go to http://www.rras.org the web page for the Redwood Region Audubon Society. Their newsletter is included in the monthly “Econews” magazine which is available free at Wild Rivers Market.

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