California Bird Atlas

07/31/2026

We're now over 170,000 checklists and 5200 atlasers! Thank you so much for all of your efforts and dedication to documenting your bird observations! It does take extra time and thought to notice and code bird behaviors. And extra time to plan and travel to new and under-birded blocks. We appreciate all of you! Keep up the good work! 🐦🐣🪿🦆🐦‍⬛🦅🦉

07/30/2026

Another striking shorebird is the American Avocet. They are often seen with black-necked stilts. You can find them in shallow salt and freshwater wetlands and ponds. In breeding season, their heads and necks are a rich rust color. In winter their heads and necks are a light gray. Their wings have a bold black and white pattern. And their thin upturned bill is very distinctive. Keep an eye out for these elegant birds and their cute fuzzy chicks!

American Avocet, San Francisco County © Alex Chen / Macaulay Library / eBird

07/29/2026

Check out this great webinar by the Los Angeles Birders! It focuses on the results so far for Los Angeles County, including a comparison to the county wide atlas done in the 1990's. But it also has great information about using breeding codes, paying attention to block boundaries, and how to use blockboard.

California Bird Atlas: Year One Results for Los Angeles CountyLanc...

07/28/2026

Black-necked stilts are striking shorebirds found throughout California. Their black and white pattern and long pink legs are easily recognizable. They can also be very noisy! And this time of year, you can often see them with chicks!

Black-necked Stilt, Yolo County © Karen Richardson / Macaulay Library / eBird

07/25/2026

UPDATED INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE INATURALIST PROJECT:
https://ebird.org/atlascalifornia/news/tagging-breeding-evidence-on-inaturalist-for-the-california-bird-atlas

Help us add breeding codes to iNaturalist observations! Many people use iNaturalist that are not on eBird. Now we can code and add their observations to the Atlas!

While eBird is the primary data collection platform for the California Bird Atlas, there are many other sources of information on where and when birds breed that we plan to incorporate into the final dataset. One of these sources is iNaturalist.

07/24/2026

iNaturalist Project Update

NEW FIELD! We have added our own "Observation Field". Choose "California Bird Atlas Breeding Code" as the field. The breeding codes already entered under "Breeding Bird Evidence" will be automatically transferred. Thank you!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: We decided to create our own Observation Field for iNaturalist instead of using their Breeding Bird Evidence.

FUN PROJECT for iNaturalist users! If you are on iNaturalist, or are interested in it, you can add breeding codes to other people's observations! Then they can be included in the atlas!

07/24/2026

UPDATE: Some slight changes were made to the iNaturalist project. So, the video was edited to take that out. We are working on a standalone video about the project. Stay tuned!

Last night's Town Hall is up on our You Tube page in case you missed it or want to review it. It includes project updates, stats, breeding birds to look for at this time of year, the Code Check tool, and some great bird photos!

Join us for the 4th California Bird Atlas Town Hall (hosted on 7/23...

07/23/2026

EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO JOIN US TONIGHT ON ZOOM!

📝 Register for the Town Hall: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rmJ-dlOVSD2ScPlf5HWePg #/registration
❓ Submit a Town Hall Question:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnWjR4UApjRAPx0ErxR3y9dqFUNSzZ_KekPtbVGH_6JCrHIA/viewform