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.
he Tufted Puffin is a dramatic looking bird. Its bulky bright orange bill, striking white mask and spectacular blond feather tufts streaming back along the sides of its head contrast with dark black feathers on the rest of the bird. It is excellent swimmer capable of deep dives of up to two minutes in length.
The Surf Scoter (SUSC) is a 20” sea duck that swims in or just beyond breaking waves or ocean surf. Its genus Melanitta is Latin for black and its species perspicillata is from the Latin for conspicuous or spectacular. It is limited to North America, and winters on both coasts with some on the Great Lakes.
The combination of the Barn Owl’s eerie screaming call, its ghostly white color, and its roosting in church belfries gave rise to many superstitions associated with it. In English folklore the Barn Owl had a sinister reputation and poets Robert Blair and William Wordsworth considered it a “bird of doom”.
The Common Murre (COMU) is about 17” long with a wingspan of 26”. The genus name Uria (YOU-rih-ah) is from the Greek ourein, to dive. The species name aalge (AHL-geh) is the Scandinavian word for bird. The common name (MER) is of obscure European origin and may be related to marrot, local English dialect, for an auk, guillemot, or puffin.
The Western Meadowlark (WEME) is 9-1/2" long. The WEME has a yellow breast and belly with a black V-shaped breast band. Upper parts are dark brown with dusky edges. When the bird is flushed it shows a conspicuous patch of white on each side of a short tail and flies with several rapid wingbeats alternating with short glides.
