Every December, thousands of volunteers across North America head outdoors to count birds — helping scientists understand how our feathered neighbors are doing. The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) isn’t just a fun birding day — it’s the oldest and largest citizen science project in the world, and it depends entirely on volunteers like you.
Eastside Audubon is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities supporting local conservation and education efforts.
The Puget Sound Seabird Survey is looking for birders in King County to join this established Community Science program.
In the quiet of the woods the bubbling song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet erupted, and the high trill of the Brown Creeper signaled its presence. The hormonal drive to breed had birds singing regardless of the weather.
The Palm Warbler is one of Washington’s “Winter Warblers.” In late fall and winter, with numbers varying considerably each year, Palm Warblers migrate south along the Pacific Coast through Washington, Oregon and California. In recent years Palm Warblers have been seen in Ocean Shores and on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington.
The Savannah Sparrow (SASP) is 5.5" long with a 6.75" wingspan. The genus name Passerculus is from the Latin meaning little sparrow. The species name sandwichensis is Latin, of place, Sandwich, Unalaska, or Aleutians area, from which came the first subspecies, Aleutian Savannah Sparrow, to be described.
The Western Sandpiper is part of the genus Calidris from the Greek kalidris which was used by Aristotle for a speckled waterbird. Mauri is from Ernest Mauri (1791-1836) an Italian botanist and a friend of Charles Bonaparte (1803-1857), who named this bird for him. They co-authored a book on Italian fauna. The bird is the western counterpart to the Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla and the common name designates this location.
The Mountain Bluebird, sometimes called the “prairie bluebird” (Dunne), is a bird of open grasslands. It is seen most frequently in Central and Eastern Washington. It enjoys a wide range of habitats including an altitudinal range from grasslands to open areas in forests, to alpine tundra (Alderfer).
The genus name Carduelis (Card-dyou-EE-liss) is from the Latin carduus, thistle (eats seeds of thistle). The species name pinus (PINE-us) is Latin for pine which is its common name apparently from the siskin of Europe, a yellow-green finch. Siskin apparently is derived from Danish sidsken or Swedish siska, a “chirper.”
