Many landbirds, such as hooded warblers and wood thrushes, also migrate through here each fall and spring. Hummingbirds, too, are abundant. In the midst of one of the most paved-over places on Earth, birds are not only surviving, they're thriving, Hutto says. It's a refuge in a sea of concrete. It makes you think about what it is that we're trying to achieve here on Earth.
Songbirds migrate through in the spring, but the park offers something to see year-round.
Look for the red-tailed hawks, which have taken up residence atop a Fifth Avenue skyscraper. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California. Even if you've never been anywhere near the Santa Monica Mountains, you already are familiar with the sounds of its birds. It's the background noise heard in all those classic westerns and World War II films, which Hollywood made in the region, Hutto says. You hear all these birds in those movies.