There’s much concern regarding the decline in bird populations, but are there any birds that are actually doing well locally? There certainly are, but they’re often not the birds that make people happy. The much-maligned American crow has seen a big spike in numbers over the last few years. Turkey vultures are also doing very nicely. Then there are species formerly found on the fringes of the suburbs that have now adapted to living with people. The Cooper’s hawk has become a reasonably common nester along the South Coast, where it finds easy pickings at backyard feeders.
I’ve lived on the Westside for nearly 30 years, and there are birds that I rarely saw in my neighborhood when I moved in that I see or hear daily now. These include the white-breasted nuthatch, dark-eyed junco, band-tailed pigeon, and Bewick’s wren.
Other birds have seen a noticeable increase because measures have been taken to protect them. Brown pelicans have rebounded since the banning of DDT, and peregrine falcons are another success story, partly because of reintroduction programs.