The last weekend of April this year happened to coincide with the average peak migration date for Southern California. I knew going into the weekend that I was going to do a yard Big Day, I just wasn’t sure which day I would do it. My wife and I both woke up at about 5:15. She stepped out on the patio, then came back in to tell me a screech-owl was calling nearby. I stepped out and heard it, then heard a Great Horned Owl further up the canyon, then decided that day, April 27, was to be the day. This despite not feeling super “chipper” that morning and wondering if I should just go back to bed.
As the sky got brighter and the bird song louder, at 5:56 I was concerned enough to write in my notes “where are the grosbeaks, atfl, etc.?” Black-headed Grosbeak and Ash-throated Flycatcher both breed in our canyon, but I hadn’t heard or seen them this year and wasn’t hearing them this morning (I later got both).
Sunrise was at 6:07, at which time I had 25 species.
What is a Big Day? Big Days are an effort to see as many bird species as possible in one day (24 hours). They are most often done statewide within a state or countrywide within a country, often competitively, and frequently as a fundraiser. There are also Big Sits, which are a similar concept except you are restricted to a single spot.
At 6:12 I walked down the backyard steps and was face-to-face with a gimpy raccoon holding a front paw in the air. It was missing some fur. I figured it likely got into a tangle with a coyote.
At 7:00 I was excited to hear a loud “Quick Three Beers!”… Olive-sided Flycatcher was species 34 for the morning. It was also a new species for my lifetime yard list which now stood at 124. Later that morning I picked up Hammond’s Flycatcher for lifetime yard list species 125. The Hammond’s Flycatcher got into a tussle with one of the resident Western Flycatchers.
What are the rules? In this case, any species heard or seen while within the boundaries of my property is fair game. My property is on a steep hill in Elyria Canyon and immediately abuts Elyria Canyon Park, an open space area managed by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. We are also less than a mile from the LA River, and some subset of river-associated species infrequently fly overhead at our home.
I reached 40 species at 7:45. 50 species at 8:50 with Black-headed Grosbeak. At 10:30, brush clearance started in the park. At that time I was at 57 species. With the loud noise from the park I ended full time yard birding and went about my day, alternating between doing weekend homeowner necessities and birding. I reached 60 species at 11:40 with a Turkey Vulture. By the time sunset arrived at 7:34 pm I was at 63 species.
All in all it was a good day, though I missed a few things that I expected (like Swainson’s Thrush and any vireo… especially Warbling Vireo which is annual here). I ended up with both species the next morning while doing yard work, along with my first MacGillivray’s Warbler at the house in several years as well as a Palm Warbler, which is a rarity in Southern California but probably on the more common side of rarity. That made 67 yard species for the weekend.
In an ideal yard birding world I would repeat this early in May, alas I am heading to the Midwest for some peak migration birding there.
This will almost certainly be my largest single day count of the year. May will certainly drop off some, June will decline more because we are past migration and are left with breeding species only. As we get into summer and past the main breeding season, birds reduce or stop territorial singing and become less detectable. Fall migration is more spread out with less singing, and then we get into winter again.
Yard List Totals:
- 2024: 83
- Since I moved here in 2003: 126
2024 Yard Big Day Totals:
- January: 38
- March: 49
- April: 63
Below: The list of 63 bird species seen and/or heard during my April 2024 yard Big Day.
| Common Name | Scientific Name | Count |
| Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | 3 |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Patagioenas fasciata | 3 |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | Streptopelia decaocto | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | Zenaida macroura | 8 |
| Vaux’s Swift | Chaetura vauxi | 4 |
| White-throated Swift | Aeronautes saxatalis | 20 |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | Archilochus alexandri | 1 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | Calypte anna | 2 |
| Allen’s Hummingbird | Selasphorus sasin | 4 |
| California Gull | Larus californicus | 2 |
| Great Blue Heron | Ardea herodias | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | Cathartes aura | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Accipiter cooperii | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Buteo lineatus | 2 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Buteo jamaicensis | 2 |
| Western Screech-Owl | Megascops kennicottii | 1 |
| Great Horned Owl | Bubo virginianus | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | Dryobates pubescens | 1 |
| Nuttall’s Woodpecker | Dryobates nuttallii | 1 |
| Yellow-chevroned Parakeet | Brotogeris chiriri | 2 |
| Red-crowned Parrot | Amazona viridigenalis | 14 |
| Yellow-headed Parrot | Amazona oratrix | 3 |
| Olive-sided Flycatcher | Contopus cooperi | 1 |
| Western Wood-Pewee | Contopus sordidulus | 1 |
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | Empidonax hammondii | 1 |
| Western Flycatcher | Empidonax difficilis | 2 |
| Black Phoebe | Sayornis nigricans | 2 |
| Ash-throated Flycatcher | Myiarchus cinerascens | 1 |
| Cassin’s Kingbird | Tyrannus vociferans | 1 |
| California Scrub-Jay | Aphelocoma californica | 6 |
| American Crow | Corvus brachyrhynchos | 4 |
| Common Raven | Corvus corax | 12 |
| Mountain Chickadee | Poecile gambeli | 1 |
| Violet-green Swallow | Tachycineta thalassina | 1 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | Stelgidopteryx serripennis | 4 |
| Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica | 2 |
| Cliff Swallow | Petrochelidon pyrrhonota | 1 |
| Red-whiskered Bulbul | Pycnonotus jocosus | 2 |
| Bushtit | Psaltriparus minimus | 10 |
| Wrentit | Chamaea fasciata | 1 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | Sitta canadensis | 1 |
| House Wren | Troglodytes aedon | 2 |
| Bewick’s Wren | Thryomanes bewickii | 4 |
| Northern Mockingbird | Mimus polyglottos | 1 |
| American Robin | Turdus migratorius | 1 |
| House Sparrow | Passer domesticus | 4 |
| House Finch | Haemorhous mexicanus | 20 |
| Pine Siskin | Spinus pinus | 2 |
| Lesser Goldfinch | Spinus psaltria | 8 |
| American Goldfinch | Spinus tristis | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | Junco hyemalis | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | Melospiza melodia | 1 |
| California Towhee | Melozone crissalis | 4 |
| Spotted Towhee | Pipilo maculatus | 1 |
| Hooded Oriole | Icterus cucullatus | 4 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | Leiothlypis celata | 2 |
| Nashville Warbler | Leiothlypis ruficapilla | 1 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Setophaga coronata | 1 |
| Black-throated Gray Warbler | Setophaga nigrescens | 1 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | Cardellina pusilla | 1 |
| Western Tanager | Piranga ludoviciana | 1 |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | Pheucticus melanocephalus | 1 |
| Lazuli Bunting | Passerina amoena | 4 |
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