Citizen Science

Napa-Solano Audubon Society offers many opportunities for volunteers–“citizen scientists”–to help gather the raw data that helps us understand wild bird populations, the first step toward protecting them. Of course watching birds is fun and worthwhile by itself, but keeping records and sharing these with the community as part of a field monitoring project makes the activity much more valuable–and no less fun! These projects do not require a huge time commitment; they simply make birding more interesting!

California Birds in a Changing Climate

In 2014, the National Audubon Society released a landmark study examining the impact of climate change on birds of the United States and Canada. Curious about what this study said about the birds of our area, the NSAS Citizen Science team dug into the details. Inspired by and passionate about what we found, we were inspired to write and produce the book California Birds in a Changing Climate [10.6 MB PDF]. Find out more

Nestbox Trails

The Napa-Solano Audubon Society coordinates nestbox trails in Napa County. This is a community science and outreach program that needs dedicated volunteers each spring. In the 2017 nesting season, volunteers reported 66 Western Bluebirds and 54 Tree Swallows fledging! Volunteers are needed to maintain nestboxes, and to monitor active nests. Nesting data can be recorded on paper on online. Click here to learn more.

Christmas Bird Counts

Christmas Bird Counts are 1-day events sponsored by Audubon chapters across the country. Each Christmas count takes place sometime during a 3-week period beginning in mid-December, and focuses on a fixed area defined by a 15 mile diameter circle. Teams of birders are assigned to specific areas within the circle, where they record the species and estimate the numbers seen. Napa-Solano Audubon organizes 2 different counts: The Benicia Christmas Count, in Solano County, and the Angwin Christmas Count, in Napa County.

Solano County Breeding Bird Atlas

A Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA) is a collection of data about all of the bird species that breed in a particular region. Generally the end result includes a map for each nesting species that shows the areas of confirmed nesting activity. After completing the Napa County BBA project in 2003, Napa-Solano Audubon initiated the Solano County BBA project in 2005, and the final result is the Breeding Birds of Solano County, published in late 2014.

Hummingbirds at Home

This project is intended for families & includes how to identify our local hummingbirds, how to plant a garden to attract hummingbirds and how to monitor & report what you see. Several events are planned over the next year and will be posted on our calendar soon. Click here to learn more.

Other Monitoring Projects Nearby

There are many other field monitoring projects sponsored by other agencies within Napa & Solano counties or very nearby. Many of these projects need volunteers. Click here to see a list.

Monitoring on Your Own: eBird

eBird is a web site where you can login and maintain your birding records in an international shared database of bird observations. The NSAS website has pages which show information from the eBird database about bird observations in Napa and Solano counties. Read more