Make a Gift!
Support Our Work
Type in your search and hit Enter on desktop or hit Go on mobile device
At the Center, we get a lot of questions about our super active hummingbirds! This hummingbird solution gives our hummers the boost they need to get through the day! Shout out to our volunteer Marshall who keeps our feeders clean and full for our hummers
Debunking some common hummingbird feeder myths:
Happy birding!
Backyard Birding: Maintaining your Hummingbird Feeders
Our team at the Audubon Center at Debs Park continues monitoring the situation surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19) in Los Angeles County. In the spirit of being good community members, the Audubon Center at Debs Park is taking steps to limit the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the communities we serve.
The Audubon Center at Debs Park will be CLOSED to the public until further notice. We will be canceling all events and programs scheduled for the foreseeable future.
We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns, we encourage you to email us at debspark@audubon.org. We encourage our community to check out the Center for Disease Control’s website for more information on coronavirus (COVID-19).
We can’t wait to see you again!
Biljana Milasin has been volunteering at the Center for over a year, supporting with Nature Arts & Crafts programming and leading additional activities aimed at connecting the community to nature through art. Biljana is passionate about experiential learning in nature and is committed to fostering a deeply rooted connection between youth and the Earth, starting from a young age. She is the Founder and Director of Nature School LA, whose mission is to provide a loving and experiential outdoor environment in which children can be themselves fully and freely. She is a strong believer in the mindset that nature is not a destination, but something we are intrinsically a part of. Biljana’s favorite thing about volunteering at the Center is exposing children to nature through crafts, and she has a deep appreciation for the space and the staff leading the programming. We are honored and grateful to have Biljana as a part of our volunteer team, and are inspired by the vibrant passion with which she approaches her work and everyday life.
Stay tuned for more Nature Arts & Crafts events coming up every other Saturday in April!
CLICK HERE For more information on Nature School LA and the awesome curriculum that they offer (a lot of which takes place at Debs Park)!
Quercus agrifolia
Coast Live Oak is one of the few native oak trees to California. This tree is a great food source and habitat for birds especially our cavity dwellers such as our woodpecker and wren species. Our hummingbirds are also huge fans of oak trees and seem to prefer them for nesting. The Coast Live Oak provide ample shade and canopy cover, and the older it gets the more creative it can get with its’ branches. Some oak trees can be over 250 years old and exceed a trunk diameter size of 4 meters! They also are staple food source and our California Scrubjays are often found carrying acorns in their beak. Aside from California Scrubjays, our local indigenous community, Tongva, makes a porridge out of the acorns. Come out to Debs Park and catch a glimpse of these magnificent trees, maybe even have a picnic under one or to one of our restoration events to plant one.
Come catch a glimpse of this little one before it leaves to its’ breeding grounds up North as far as Alaska. Hermit Thrush is one of the hardier thrushes and is only seen in Debs Park during the winter season. Hermit Thrushes do most of their foraging on the ground, picking up insects from leaf-litter or soil. These little ones are omnivores, mainly feeding on insects or berries. They can be difficult to see and are often heard instead. Their song is a series of clear, musical phrases very flute-like. For those that do catch a glimpse of them, their speckled breast is always a treat to see.
On February 26th, the Audubon Center at Debs Park teamed up with Day One to teach local youth more about our favorite topic – BIRDS! Day One is a local nonprofit organization based out of Pasadena that focuses on youth engagement and fostering healthy habits. We are excited to partner with Day One in their Youth Advocate/Leadership Program which trains middle school, high school, and college students how to be positive role models, ambassadors for healthy lifestyles, and informed, engaged members of their communities. Each week, the Youth Advocate/Leadership group meets with different local organizations to learn about community engagement and advocacy.
ACDP staff met with 16 local students to talk about all things bird and birding. We started with a quick Birds 101 lesson where we talked about the defining characteristics of birds (all birds have wings, feathers, a beak, a specific bone structure, and lay eggs). We talked to students about “flyways” or the paths birds take during migration, migration and why birds migrate, and we explained the difference between resident birds vs. migrants (year-long inhabitants of a region and birds that migrate during winter/spring).
The students got a short binocular lesson and then we headed outside. Our staff talked about how once we start looking closer, we see that birds really are all around us! Just in Day One’s yard in Downtown Pasadena, we saw lots of activity including Allen’s Hummingbirds, Mourning Doves, White-throated Swifts, and Yellow-rumped warblers at dusk! It’s important to pay attention to what birds we see because each tells its own story about climate change.
We talked to students about the connections between birds and climate change and the importance of taking action to protect habitat for birds and people. One of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do is planting California native plants in your backyard or local park. These plants crate bird-friendly habitat and mitigate the negative effects of climate change.
We are excited for our partnership with the Day One Youth Advocate/Leadership Program and look forward to connecting with their youth more in the future.
Read more about Day One’s Youth Advocate/Leadership Program here.
Read more about the National Audubon Society’s Plants for Birds Program here.
On Saturday, February 1st, Center Director Marcos Trinidad led a bird walk along the LA River. Around 10 birders from the community came to check out he avian action along the LA River. We started our walk at the Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park and headed upstream. Along the way, birders were able to catch a glimpse of some cool birds including red breasted merganser, an osprey, belted kingfishers, and black-throated gray warblers.The highlight of the day was getting a rare peak at the osprey behavior along the river. We caught a sight of an osprey flying around and going into the water and taking a short bath before flying back to its perch.
Many of the birds we see along the LA River use the river as a stop over site in their migration to their breeding sites up north. The LA River serves as a rest stop for these birds to munch, rest, and refuel before their long trip back north.
Our bird walks along the LA River provide a great opportunity to learn about shorebirds and other birds who call the LA River home. Join us on the first Saturday of every month along the LA River and increase your bird knowledge!
Our next LA River Bird Walk will be on March 7th starting again at the Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park. We hope to see you there!
Have you event wondered how the Center grounds stay so clean and well-maintained? Well, the answer is Choix Vocational Services and their team of experienced volunteers who come out every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning to help ensure that the Center is looking its best. Choix volunteers support with sweeping, raking, trash pickup, refilling our bird feeders, and more. They have perfected their cleanup process and know exactly how to divide and conquer upon arrival, so that they are able to get the job done in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Choix volunteers play an essential role in creating a welcoming environment for visitors and without them the Center would not look nearly as nice and serene as it does. We are so grateful for their partnership and dedication, and truly could not do it without them. Next time you see Choix volunteers around, please tell them a huge THANK YOU for all that they do!
Choix Vocational Services a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides supports and services to individuals with developmental disabilities through its facility in East Los Angeles and throughout the local and neighboring communities. Choix Vocational Services embrace the philosophy that any individual, regardless of the extent of his disabilities, is capable of participating and contributing to his community when the appropriate supports are provided.
There are lovers and there are fighters, and well, the Red-tailed hawk is both. This bird of prey is a Debs Park favorite – look up and you’ll often find pairs soaring around in the sky taking advantage of the thermal uplift. If you don’t think you’ve seen one, you’ve definitely heard one. Their call has been used in movies and TV as the “generic raptor sound” – even when the bird featured isn’t actually a red-tailed hawk. Red-tailed hawks are lovers at heart. Like many raptor species, they are monogamous. Once they find a mate, most pairs stay together for life (although, break-ups are not necessarily uncommon). Pairs can often be seen soaring and hunting together. Red-tailed hawks are carnivorous and highly opportunistic feeders – their most common prey are small mammals such as rodents, but they’re also known to eat fish, reptiles, and invertebrates. Come to Debs and watch these love birds dancing in the sky!
We send out periodic emails about programs, events, and volunteer opportunities at the Center.
Audubon Center at Debs Park is located at 4700 Griffin Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Center Hours:
Trail Hours:
You can help us continue to deliver this outstanding programming to the Los Angeles area by making a generous gift today. Thank you!
