California Bird Atlas

03/18/2026

Join us for a virtual California Bird Atlas Town Hall on Thursday, March 19 at 7 PM PT to hear project updates, ask questions, and connect with others excited to be part of the statewide California Bird Atlas community! 🐣 Register at the link in our comments.

✨ Least Bittern 📸 Van Pierszalowski, CBA Project
Coordinator & Executive Director
✨ Red Crossbill & Red-breasted Nuthatch 📸Alecia Smith, CBA Outreach Coordinator

02/22/2026

What's that bird carrying? Nest building is underway! Swipe through to see the amazing array of materials collected by CA's birds, as captured by Atlasers - and let us know in the comments if you’ve spotted any birds carrying nesting material!

Be sure to join the California Bird Atlas eBird project (link in comments), and be sure to share your own photos when you submit your Atlas checklists.

📷:
1) American Dipper, Monterey County © Karen Kreiger / Macaulay Library
2) Anna’s Hummingbird, Shasta County © Tim Kashuba / Macaulay Library
3) Red-shouldered Hawk, San Diego County © Sasha Cahill / Macaulay Library
4) Verdin, Imperial County © Matt Sadowski / Macaulay Library
5) Great Blue Heron, San Diego County © Barbara Wise / Macaulay Library
6) European Starling, San Luis Obispo County © Ben Kolstad / Macaulay Library

11/05/2025

Tonight (Tuesday, Nov. 4) at 7 PM PT 🐦 Join California Bird Atlas (CBA) and Los Angeles Birders for a ~45 minute webinar with live Q&A featuring CBA core team members: Van Pierszalowski (Executive Director & President), Dr. Morgan Tingley (Chair, Science Advisory Committee), and Sam Safran (Science Director). ⁣
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We'll be covering the unprecedented effort to build California’s first-ever statewide Breeding Bird Atlas that officially kicks off on January 1, 2026! ⁣
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We’re proud to have Los Angeles Birders as a CBA Founding Partner. If you can’t join us live, the recording will be available to watch anytime through Los Angeles Birders’ YouTube channel here: bit.ly/4oyFANF

10/29/2025

Happy Taxonomy Day! 💛 As our understanding of what defines a species continues to evolve, birders are used to splits, lumps, and the name changes that come with them.⁣
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One of the biggest updates this year for California: Our familiar Yellow Warbler, which breeds across much of the state, is now called the Northern Yellow Warbler, newly split from its tropical relative, the Mangrove Yellow Warbler.⁣
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Northern Yellow Warblers are important bioindicators: a thriving population often signals intact willow and cottonwood riparian ecosystems that support dozens of other sensitive birds, mammals, and amphibians.⁣
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Climate change has already been linked to regional declines in Northern Yellow Warbler populations due to drying of its habitats.⁣
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The statewide Atlas will provide valuable data on the status, distribution, and phenology of this species, designated as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. ⁣
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1️⃣ Northern Yellow Warbler 📷 Gregory Heaton (CC BY-NC), iNaturalist⁣
2️⃣ Data: North American Breeding Bird Survey (Hostetler et al. 2023) |Visualization: ⁣

10/25/2025

Thank you Morro Bay Bird Festival❤️

We’re proud to be a Founding Partner of California Bird Atlas () - a new nonprofit launching the first-ever statewide effort to map California’s breeding birds.

Forty-four other U.S. states have completed Breeding Bird Atlases - globally recognized tools that guide conservation and strengthen biodiversity. California is one of only six states without a statewide Atlas. That’s about to change!

Learn more at californiabirdatlas.org (link in bio).

10/25/2025

We’re kicking off a new series celebrating our Founding Partners, groups that have each played a major role in building the financial and structural foundation of the California Bird Atlas. We encourage everyone in their regions to get involved with these local nonprofits doing incredible conservation work.⁣
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We’re starting with a big thank you to the Napa Solano Audubon 💚⁣
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Each Founding Partner selects a Sponsored Species to represent their work. Napa Solano Audubon chose the Song Sparrow, fitting since their region is home to a very special subspecies, the San Pablo Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia samuelis).⁣
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Found nowhere else on Earth, this subspecies lives exclusively in the tidal salt marshes of San Pablo Bay, making it one of California’s most narrowly endemic birds. ⁣
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Become a Founding Partner ($10,000+) and Sponsor a Species for your group or in honor of a loved one (first come, first served). Your support helps launch the statewide survey and move this ambitious effort forward.⁣
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✨ Visit the link in our comments to reserve one now or contact [email protected].⁣
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🐥📷: San Pablo Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia ssp. samuelsis)⁣
1️⃣ Liam Hutcheson (CC BY-NC 4.0), iNaturalist⁣
2️⃣ Daniel Levitis (CC BY 4.0), iNaturalist⁣

10/22/2025

Hello, California! 🐣 We can’t wait to build the first statewide Breeding Bird Atlas with you.⁣
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Thank you to our Founding Partners for believing in this vision from day one. With your support, we’re kicking off one of the most ambitious community science efforts in California’s history.⁣
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Why it matters: California is the most biodiverse state in the U.S.—yet we still lack a completed Breeding Bird Atlas. Together, we’ll build the most comprehensive record of California’s breeding birds to guide restoration, detect ecological change and species declines sooner, and strengthen climate resilience for birds, wildlife, and communities.⁣
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🗓️ When does it start? January 1, 2026–2030⁣
🧭 Who completes the surveys? Volunteers and scientists across California⁣
📝 What’s recorded? Bird presence + breeding evidence (courtship, nest-building, adults carrying food, fledglings)⁣
🗺️ California is huge! How are survey areas covered? ~16,000 3×3-mile “atlas blocks,” logged in a new eBird Atlas Portal developed with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology⁣
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We’ve been blown away by the grassroots energy behind California’s first statewide breeding bird atlas. 💚Follow us, tag a friend, and visit our website (link in comments) to join the newsletter and learn more.⁣