Dear Project Phoenix community,

We are almost at the end of our data collection season! Data collection for Project Phoenix 2025 ends on November 30th. This will be our last weekly newsletter for the season. Please keep an eye out for our year-end survey, which we plan to send sometime in early December.

Our team would like to express our gratitude for each and every one of you for being part of the Project Phoenix community. Whether you have been a volunteer with us since the start of our program, or just joined us last month, you are an essential part of our project. Your contributions are what make this research possible, and we hope that Project Phoenix has brought you much joy through birdwatching.

As my position as Communications Lead for Project Phoenix comes to an end, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful messages, conversations, and moments we’ve shared. I have enjoyed each bird walk, trivia night, and virtual event, and I feel honored to have been able to share the love of birds with such an amazing community.

Happy Birding!

Yuka Wu | Communications Lead, Project Phoenix

BIRD OF THE WEEK:

Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhees are large sparrows with striking plumage. Their heads and throats are black, contrasting with reddish flanks, white bellies, and red eyes. Their wings are black with white speckles, hence the “spotted” appearance. Their tails are long and black, with white outer tail corners, which is a key characteristic to look out for in the field. In females, the black coloration is duller and may even appear gray or brown.

Spotted Towhees are found in dry, brushy areas throughout western North America, and are closely related to their similar-looking eastern relative, the Eastern Towhee. Both exist in parts of the Great Plains, where they hybridize.

You’ll mostly observe Spotted Towhees hanging out near the ground. They use a “double-scratch” foraging method in which they scratch the ground backwards with both feet and then hop forwards to uncover insects and seeds in the leaf litter.

When searching for Spotted Towhees, listen for the cat-like calls and buzzy songs. During the breeding season, you might hear males singing frequently to attract a mate. They have been observed singing for 70 to 90 percent of their mornings!

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

April D’Aguilar

April is a Los Angeles native who joined Project Phoenix this year after hearing about our project on Instagram. April cared deeply for birds and conservation well before becoming a volunteer. Her interest in conservation and habitat destruction due to climate change was sparked after watching a documentary about the last male of a Hawaiian bird species singing for a mate that will never come.

She has enjoyed contributing to Project Phoenix so far, and has discovered that she knows more bird calls than she realized. Her favorite birds to observe are hummingbirds, raptors, and carrion birds. One day, she hopes to go birding in the Amazon rainforest.

In her free time, April practices and facilitates meditation, yoga, and yoga nidra. Check out her social media @WyldChyldYoga and website for private yoga meditation and rest therapies.

Thank you so much for your contributions to Project Phoenix, April!

FEATURE STORY:

Birding and Mental Health

by Caitlin O’Neil

Did you know that birding supports our mental health and well-being? It’s true!

Just by tuning into the great outdoors, we feel less stressed and mentally fatigued. Research has shown that listening to birdsong restores focus. Our everyday encounters with birds – whether heard or seen – positively impact our well-being.

Here at Project Phoenix, we believe birding supports mindfulness, centering us in the present. Practicing mindfulness has numerous health benefits, including lowering blood pressure. Birding specifically has been linked to decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression.

For some, birding also helps counter feelings of isolation and keeps us connected to a broader community! Going birding with friends or a group, or even exchanging bird sightings with passersby on a birding outing, fosters community. Those who prefer solo birding may still enjoy sharing photos, stories, and experiences to celebrate their birding adventure.

Birding also grants us moments of awe and appreciation, offering a time to slow down and appreciate the world around us. Whether it’s marveling at the bright plumage of a bird you’re witnessing for the first time, listening to a beloved and familiar birdsong, or laughing at a bird with a funny habit, birding provides us with both new and comforting moments. Moments that can challenge us and celebrate us, moments that allow for peace, laughter, and joy in a world that can be overwhelming, exhausting, and fearful.

No matter why you bird, we at Project Phoenix are so grateful that you do and for your participation in this project.

Happy Birding!

FROM OUR PARTNERS:

Visit the UCLA Botanical Garden!

The educational team at the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is working on creating projects that leverage the power of community science and make birding more accessible to the public. They have launched a new project for documenting the behaviors and life cycles of resident birds who call the garden home through iNaturalist, a popular participatory science platform that empowers people to share photos of any plant, animal or fungus and contribute to science. Specific species the team is interested in documenting include breeding pairs of Bewick’s Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Great Horned Owls. The goal is to use the data collected to create a laminated guide to birds in the garden for visitors. Through projects like this, the garden hopes to inform the public of the benefits of habitat restoration and coexistence with wildlife, celebrate our shared love of birds, and improve the garden as an ecosystem for said bird species. As the Project Phoenix data collection season comes to an end and you are looking for more ways to connect with birds and nature, we highly recommend checking out this amazing space!

Thank you to all our partners and supporting organizations!

Project Phoenix is grateful to our partners and all the supporting organizations who helped our program take flight. Check out our Partners page to learn more about the incredible work of these non-profit organizations – from science to conservation to outdoor recreation, these orgs are dedicated to protecting our environment for people and the birds we love.

Follow us on Instagram @projectphoenix_socal for more content on birds and Project Phoenix!