Offering helping hand to Mother Nature

Audubon Society counts feathered friends in Birdathon.

As the weather warms, flocks of birds begin their arduous journeys spanning continents and birdwatchers get out their binoculars to track the migration.

“We hold our Birdathon in the spring because we live in a migratory corridor,” said Carolyn Knight of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, headquartered at McClellan Ranch in Cupertino.

Birdathon is the Audubon Society’s annual bird counting event, when members visit as many habitats and observe as many species as possible. Birdathon was set to kick off March 17.

Knight said tracking bird populations is a must for a healthy ecosystem.

“When you remove birds, you remove a visible part of wildlife,” she said. “You also destroy a natural form of pest control.”

Sunnyvale resident Barry Langdon-Lassagne, president of the local Audubon Society, said birds select their own habitats.

“There’s an amazing variety of nature within 5 miles of my house,” he said. “I’ve got Saratoga Creek, Baylands and San Tomas Aquino Creek.”

Creeks and streams are home to riparian birds that include kingfishers and wood ducks.

“Wood ducks are beautiful,” Langdon-Lassagne said. “They are unusual in that they nest in holes in trees.”

Pond birds such as Canada geese, cormorants and various species of duck make their homes on Vasona Lake in Los Gatos; the creek flowing through Campbell is a haven for riparian birds.

“You can go to a nature park and you may only see two different types of mammals, such as squirrels and chipmunks,” LangdonLassagne said. “You may even see a coyote. But you will see a dozen or even 20 birds in a day.”

Brooke Miller, a Willow Glen resident and avid birder, said trees and plants that birds are most attracted to are native trees and shrubs and eucalyptus, as they are food sources. Avian species residinginleafySanJoseneighborhoodsincludeAnna’shummingbird, the California towhee and the American robin.

“Others migrate here in spring and stay to breed,” Miller said. “They include the Western tanager, Wilson’s warbler, the hooded oriole and my personal favorite, the black-chinned hummingbird.”

For backyard birders, Miller suggested planting native flora, providing water and putting up bird feeders.

For more information, go to scvas.org/birdathon.

PHOTO BY CAROLYN KNIGHT Members of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society are helping count local bird populations for its annual Birdathon, which kicked off March 17. The Cupertino-based group holds the event each spring to track birds’ migratory patterns.

CAROLYN KNIGHT —SANTA CLARA AUDUBON SOCIETY A spotted towhee is one of the bird species society members are tracking during the annual Birdathon. The Cupertino-based group holds the event each spring to track birds’ migratory patterns.