"IV the BIRDS"

Farmer graphic image

-(-(-(-(- Birds of the Imperial Valley   -)-)-)-)-

The Imperial Valley is located in the southeastern corner of California, bordered to the north by the Salton Sea, to the east by the Colorado River and the State of Arizona, to the south by Baja California, Mexico, and to the west by the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

Water from the All American Canal has transformed this arid desert into one of the world's most productive agricultural areas. The availability of water in the desert makes this region attractive for many birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway -- and for some year-round avian residents as well.

Ring Necked Pheasant graphic image

PLEASE NOTE: These scanned images of Imperial Valley birds may be viewed but please do not copy for commercial or other use without permission. All photographs are under copyright protection and taken in the Imperial Valley by James E. Kuhn unless otherwise noted.

A beautifully prepared, pocket-sized Guide to the Birds of the Imperial Valley containing definitive photos, a color-coded map of Valley bird habitats, some spotting tips, and other fun facts is available for only $3.00 from:

James E. Kuhn
SunScape Cards
1621 Drew Road
El Centro, CA 92243

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GREAT NEWS: The 7th Annual "SALTON SEA INTERNATIONAL BIRD FESTIVAL" will be held PRESIDENTS' DAY Weekend, February 13-16, 2004. Registration information can be found at http://www.newriverwetlands.com/register.html for this special event! Additional information can be found at: http://www.newriverwetlands.com/saltonsea.html

  • And, if we have rain this winter, our Desert should be blooming! Here is a link to the local Anza Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Updates Web page.
  • The 2004 "Yuma Birding & Nature Festival" is a four-day event being held April 14-18 along the Colorado River which forms the eastern border of the Imperial Valley. For more information call: 1-800-293-0071 or visit their Web site at www.yumabirding.org.

NEW ADDITION: I recently added a page on the Valley's newest birding hotspot, with recent photographs, a progress report and directions to The New River Wetlands Project!

DESERT WILDLIFE UNLIMITED helps sponsor the New River Wetlands Project. Check out their new Website (www.desertwildlifeunlimited.com). Hey Leon - how about some bird photos in your gallery, hmmm?

WEST NILE VIRUS ALERT: California remains free of the sometimes deadly West Nile virus which has been found in 33 other states. Officials expect it will appear in California before other western states because of the location of the Pacific Flyway in our state. Residents are asked to call a toll-free number - (877) WNV-BIRD - to report bodies of birds that have been dead for less than a day. Species affected by this mosquito-borne virus include crows, jays, magpies and ravens. The US Geological Survey has more information available at: http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/


FARM & FIELD BIRDS

Blackbirds image copyrighted by David L. Bozsik 1997

Imperial Valley's farms and ranches offer some of the best birding habitats in Southern California. Irrigated fields attract a variety species in large flocks and the surrounding trees and brush provide a refuge for many others.


TOWN, PARK & HOME FEEDER BIRDS

Ruby Throated Hummingbird from US Fish & Wildlife Service (in public domain)

A variety of birds can be attracted to your home if you provide them with food, water and shelter. Some birds have adapted to an urban environment and can be easily found if you just look around.

Brewer's BlackBird

House Finch

Northern Mockingbird

Verdin

Ground Doves

Great-Tailed Grackle

American Robin

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Mourning Dove

Black-Chinned Hummingbird

House Sparrow

Wilson's Warbler

Rock Dove (pigeon)

Costa's Hummingbird

European Starling

American Goldfinch

Cliff Swallow

Black-Headed Grosbeak

Western Tanager

Yellow Warbler

 

Dark-Eyed Junco

Northern Oriole

 


DESERT SHRUB & MESQUITE BIRDS

Imperial Valley is located in the Colorado Desert - a unique oasis that is home to a variety of  birds and provides a resting refuge for many other birds just passing through.

Ground Doves

Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher

Gambel's Quail

Abert's Towhee

Mourning Dove

Harris's Hawk

Common Raven

Turkey Vulture

White-Winged Dove

Anna's Hummingbird

Greater Roadrunner

Cactus Wren

Prairie Falcon

Lesser Nighthawk

White-Crowned Sparrow

Gila WoodPecker

Northern Flicker

Phainopepla

Thrashers

Crested Caracara

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Olive-Sided Flycatcher

Warbling Vireo

Rock Wren

 

Hermit Warbler

Orange-Crowned Warbler

Townsend's Warbler


WATER, MARSH & SALTON SEA BIRDS

Duck graphic image

The Salton Sea State Recreation Area offers many opportunities for bird watchers to find both rare and uncommon western birds. Imperial Valley also has two river channels, various small lakes and ponds, as well as an extensive irrigation system of canals and ditches.

American Avocet

Laughing Gull

Ruddy Duck

American Bittern

Ring-Billed Gull

Least Sandpiper

Least Bittern

Yellow-Footed Gull

Spotted Sandpiper

American Coot

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Western Sandpiper

Double-Crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Lesser Scaup

Long-Billed Dowitcher

Green-Backed Heron

Northern Shoveler

Dunlin

KillDeer

Black Skimmer

Common Moorhen

Belted Kingfisher

Common Snipe

Great Egret

Mallard Duck

Sora

Snowy Egret

Common Merganser

Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

Gadwall

Osprey

Cinnamon Teal

Clark's Grebe

American White Pelican

Green-Winged Teal

Eared Grebe

Brown Pelican

Caspian Tern

Pied-Bill Grebe

Wilson's Phalarope

Black Tern

Western Grebe

Northern Pintail

Forster's Tern

Marbled Godwit

Black-Bellied Plover

Gull-Billed Tern

Greater White-Fronted Goose

Semi-Palmated Plover

Wood Stork

Canada Goose

Snowy Plover

Whimbrel

Snow Goose

Clapper Rail

Willet

California Gull

Virginia Rail

Marsh Wren

Herring Gull

RedHead

Black Brant

Ring-Necked Duck

Cooper's Hawk

Red-Necked Phalarope

Ross' Goose

Bonaparte's Gull

Roseate Spoonbill

Common Loon

Vermilion Flycatcher

Greater Yellowlegs

 

 

 


RARE BIRD ALERTS & AREA SIGHTINGS

A terrific online link for Imperial County Birding statistics, resources, and sites can be found at "Joe Morlan's California Birding Pages"(http://fog.ccsf.org/~jmorlan/index.htm)

(Mr. Morlan is an ornithology instructor at City College of San Francisco. He maintains a useful County-by-County geographical index of birding resources for California)

Here's a more comprehensive Checklist of local Bird Species for our area that you can print and use.

SOLUNAR TABLES

According to Mrs. Richard Alden Knight's Solunar Tables, published in the Sunday edition of the San Diego Union Tribune, the best day-time hours for Southern California bird watching this week are:

                    AM            PM
May 17th (MON) -  09:55 M   &   04:05 m
May 18th (TUE) -  10:35 M   &   04:45 m
May 19th (WED) -  11:20 M   &   05:30 m
May 20th (THU) -  05:55 m   &   12:10 M
May 21st (FRI) -  06:50 m   &   01:05 M
May 22nd (SAT) -  07:45 m   &   02:00 M
May 23rd (SUN) -  08:40 m   &   02:55 M

Major (M) periods last longer than minor (m)
(best periods last 1-2 hours after times shown)

Insects, fish, birds, and other wildlife
are most active during these periods.

IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - HERE'S HOW YOU CAN CALCULATE THE SOLUNAR PERIODS FOR YOUR AREA:

  • First, visit the U.S. Naval Observatory's handy website for Calculating Sun & Moon Data
  • Next, enter the Year, Month, Day, State and Place Name
  • Select "Get Data" button
  • Write down the times for Moon Rise and Moon Set
  • The times for Moon Rise and Moon Set are your two minor solunar periods!
  • Add six hours to Moon Rise and six hours to Moon Set to calculate your two Major solunar periods

(NOTE: this is an old fisherman's trick that works almost as well as more complex scientific calculations!)

That's it! Now you have the best times for hunting, fishing, or birding for your area.

TIP: If you do not have access to the Internet, you can often find the times for Moon Rise and Moon Set in your daily newspaper.


AUTHOR'S NOTES & RELATED LINKS

This Web site serves as a local birding resource and is not offered as a serious scientific reference. The birds noted on this site represent only a fraction of those to be found in the Imperial Valley. I have seen and identified all of the birds locally on this site except for the Crested Caracara, Clapper Rail, and Wood Stork - which have been documented by other Valley birders.

(If you groaned when you saw the title of this Web site - you should know that it could have been worse, I almost called it "CHEEP THRILLS!")

I am thrilled to have been selected as a KEY RESOURCE for the subjects
'BIRDS' and 'BIRDING' by www.links2go.com - take a look at their list of
other Key Birding Resources by clicking on the Key Logo

The Natural World of North America, www.nearctica.com, Web site also selected "IV the BIRDS" for an Editor's Choice award. Visit this online resource for all things natural in North America. Weird sites, cool sites, activities for kids, teachers, and more!

I am indebted to the USGS Pautuxant Wildlife Research Center's Bird Identification InfoCenter (http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html) Web site, which I recommend as a starting point for researching North American Birds. Each of the Imperial Valley Bird pages (except one) provides a link to their site for that species.

I also want to thank Doug Von Gausig and his family for allowing the use of their sound links for Imperial Valley Birds. His Web site (http://www.naturesongs.com/) is a wonderful resource for learning about sound recording in general and provides the sounds found at many other nature sites around the WWW.

Now, if you would like to visit some other Birding links on the World Wide Web - take a look at these extensive resource lists:

or check out The Virtual Birder e-zine's Web page and take some virtual birding trips online.

There are three other online organizations that every "cyber-birder" should visit:

  • Peterson Online - a very impressive webpage with many nice features and links. Included is an excellent ONLINE TUTORIAL for learning about bird identification, birding, and birds in general.
  • Refuge Net - Karen R. Hollingsworth provides a very valuable resource for both the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge System on this web site that includes nationwide volunteer opportunities. Get involved in helping preserve our natural resources!

And, if you don't believe our government is for the birds, just take a look at the online research and results page of The North American Breeding Bird Survey. A great sight-site for IMAGES and SONGS of common North American Birds. Their survey is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Biological Service.

If you are interested in information on attracting birds to your backyard - there are four online pamphlets provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:

But if you want to discourage birds in your backyard or solve other bird nuisance problems, then read their online pamphlet:

Looking for additional BIRD, ANIMAL, or FISH Images? - visit the award winning Electronic Zoo's collection of Image Links. The "E-ZOO" is also a great resource for Veterinary Information if you have a sick pet or other animal.


MORE IMPERIAL VALLEY LINKS

I am always expanding this page, so reload your browser when you re-visit. I also have a page of local IMPERIAL VALLEY LINKS that includes more things to do, places to go and things to see in the Imperial Valley area as well as other local online resources.

Enjoy a PHOTO TOUR of Imperial County or browse the COMMUNITY EVENTS calendar to learn more about the Imperial Valley. The Blue Angels Air Show, California Mid-Winter Fair, Brawley Cattle Call Rodeo, Glamis Sand Dunes, and other local activities are featured on the Imperial County Homepage created by CP Communications.

An informative resource for local environmental issues has been established by the Imperial Irrigation District at (www.iid.com). Their site provides information on the Salton Sea, the New River, Fig Lagoon, Burrowing Owls, Waterfowl Habitat Program, and Aquatic Weed Control. Online maps are also available.

You are also invited to take a look at my other Web pages created for the IVC Desert Museum which includes information and links for the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, atlatls, geoglyphs, rock art, special tours, archaeology classes and other events. There is also a page on Life in the Colorado Desert - with links to resources for plants, animals, insects, reptiles and other flora and fauna that make the Imperial Valley home.

I also maintain Web pages for the Imperial Valley Pioneers Museum that document the historical contributions of various ethnic cultures and other groups in the development of the Imperial Valley.

Please direct any comments, concerns, compliments, or curses to:
Roadrunner watercolor painted by Eldon R. Caldwell 1990
Email: eldon.caldwell@imperial.edu
Originally created 1995

©1995 - 2001. All rights reserved

Suitable for all ages!