Have you ever wanted to hone your skills at birdwatching? Here are a few easy tips to help you out.
- White-Tailed Kites – If you ever see a white bird holding still in the air, you can pretty easily identify it as a white-tailed kite. These hunters easily hover in the air, like a kite, searching the ground for prey.
- Red-Tailed Hawks – If you see a hawk in the air and it has a distinctive red or rust colored tail feathers, you are looking at a red-tailed hawk. This is dissimilar to the red-shouldered hawk, which (you guessed it) has red shoulders.
- Turkey Vultures – Often seen flying in the sky, the turkey vultures have an easy to spot “v” shape on their wings and bodies. One of the tell-tale signs it is a turkey vulture, or TV for short, is if it looks wobbly while it flies.
- Egrets – Another white bird is often found along roadway or freeway edges and sometimes on lawns or golf courses. Its tall skinny black legs and feet with a yellow beak make it easy to spot. Don’t confuse it with the snowy egret which has the opposite markings (yellow feet, black legs and beak).
- Anna’s Hummingbird (Male) – While hummingbirds are in a hurry and often hard to see, there is another easy to identify move. The Anna’s hummingbird males fly in a “J” shaped flight pattern that concludes with a chirp.
- Allen’s Hummingbirds (Male) – A distinction from the Anna’s hummingbird flight, the male Allen’s hummingbird does a u-shaped shuffle.
We hope these tips and photos help you identify the cool birds we have in the Puente-Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor.
Read the June 2025 Newsletter.