LA Raptor Study
On this page: Get Involved! | Raptor Study Area | Final Results | SoCal Raptors Species | Raptor Survey Team | Donate
Sponsored by Friends of Griffith Park, the Los Angeles Raptor Study engages volunteers all across Los Angeles to monitor raptor nests (hawks, owls, and falcons) during spring and summer to learn how these birds are adapting to the urban environment.
The study was first launched in 2017 as Griffith Park Raptor Survey and has expanded since then. Each year, trained volunteers record observations at dozens of raptor nests located in parks, schools, and yards across the city and surrounding communities. This data-gathering is vital to biologists because it represents a specific, comprehensive dataset of raptor habits over multiple years.
Get Involved!
A community-science based program, the LA Raptor Study relies on volunteers. Early in the year, the leadership team provides volunteers with free training sessions to learn the types of raptors found in the LA area, how to track nest activity and how to record observations.
Volunteers are asked to commit to monitoring their nests at least twice a month and report the data regularly to one of the study coordinators.
If you are interested in volunteering for the study, please fill out this volunteer application. If you have questions about volunteering contact raptors@friendsofgriffithpark.org
Yearly Monitoring Schedule:
- Late January/early February: Volunteer training, nest-searching, including re-visiting known nest sites.
- March: Volunteers are deployed to monitor their assigned nests with individualized orientation by one of four study coordinators. If new nests are located, basic data is recorded on substrate/tree species, topography, GPS coordinates, and more.
- April-June: Volunteers continue to monitor nesting activity stages, such as egg incubation, chicks, and finally fledging, as birds leave the nest by the end of June.
- July-August: Volunteer party; data analysis and results presentation.
Click here and share a graphic on your NextDoor or Facebook account to get the word out!
Volunteer Profiles
Volunteers are key to the success of the Raptor Study! Read how volunteers are finding friendship and connection as they monitor their nests.
Raptor Study Area
The LA Raptor Study covers six sub-regions surrounding the Griffith Park rea (shown in gray blue below), including: the southeastern San Fernando Valley, the Hollywood Hills, Baldwin Hills, Mid-City, Downtown L.A., East L.A., and Northeast L.A., along with portions of Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and South Pasadena.
Study Area Map credit: Ahalya Sabaratnam, UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability Raptor Practicum Team
Final Results
Each year the LA Raptor Study publishes a final report with study results.
Raptors in the News
2023 RAPTOR STUDY RESULTS: Report from Griffith Park Reporter
ALTA MAGAZINE: Bird Watching Goes Both Ways
WILDLIFE PROFESSIONAL: Persistence Amid a Pandemic
(available to magazine subscribers)
LA TIMES: Get Outside in 2020: These 4 LA Nature Events Make it Easy
Raptors in Your Hood?
Have you noticed a hawk or owl in your Los Angeles neighborhood or seen a nest made of sticks? We want to know! Please submit the location (address or cross streets) and any other details you have (photos or videos welcome) in the tips form at https://tinyurl.com/LARaptorTips . Questions? Contact Outreach Coordinator Nurit Katz at raptors@friendsofgriffithpark.org or call/text (818) 384-9493.
SoCal Raptors Species
The Southern California basin is rich in diversity of the raptors that live here. The most common breeding species you’ll see are:
Need Help Identifying a Raptor?
There are a number of helpful apps for birding such as eBird and Merlin. For raptor identification specifically, Raptor ID app from Hawkwatch International is available in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Consider joining the Raptor ID Facebook Group.
Good raptor field guides include:
Meet the Raptor Survey Team
Daniel S. Cooper
Study Director
Bio
Daniel S. Cooper is principal investigator and scientific advisor for Friends of Griffith Park. Dan grew up in Pasadena with a passion for birds and nature. His academic credentials include: Harvard University, U.C. Riverside (MS), and UCLA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (PhD). He is president of Cooper Ecological Monitoring and serves as the Deputy Executive Director for the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.Â
As one of California’s leading ornithologists, Dan published Important Bird Areas of California and has a list of scientific publications to his credit. He has served several functions for California Audubon, including Director of Bird Conservation.
Beginning in late 2006, Dan became the lead ecologist conducting surveys under the umbrella Griffith Park Natural History Survey. After the 2007 park fire, Dan advised the Department of Recreation and Parks on fire recovery and was commissioned to write the Griffith Park Wildlife Management Plan. Highlights of his professional contributions to Griffith Park science include the Griffith Park Rare Plant Survey and the continuing Griffith Park Raptor Survey, both highly successful endeavors underwritten by FoGP.
Gerry Hans
President, Friends of Griffith Park
Bio
For well over fifteen years, Gerry Hans has been active with park issues and was a diligent member of the Griffith Park Master Plan Working Group which convened in 2005. He served as president of Oaks Homeowners for three years (2005-2007) and fought for the City’s toughest anti-mansionization code to protect the community’s unique character with plenty of open space. Gerry also played a role in establishing invaluable scientific work for the park beginning in late 2006 through the Griffith Park Natural History Survey. He served on the Parks, River and Open Space Committee of the local neighborhood council until 2010, and is currently active with the county-wide helicopter noise reduction movement.
Gerry comes from a large Midwest farm family of ten and holds a Biology degree from University of Illinois. He began graduate work at Colorado State in ecology, but was side-tracked by corporate positions, moving to Los Angeles 34 years ago. After leaving the corporate world, he and his spouse built a successful small business, from which he is now retired.
As a founding member of Friends of Griffith Park and its inaugural president, Gerry keeps busy tracking the organization’s progress with advocacy issues, including the revitalization of historic Fern Dell. He enjoys hiking and “botanizing” in Griffith Park, while thinking about ways to protect the park’s rich Mediterranean habitat and wildlife, in balance with recreation.
Gerry has been closely engaged with the science and conservation aspects within Griffith Park, and recently coordinated successful efforts with other conservationists to purchase and protect acreage adjacent to the Park.
Nurit Katz
Outreach Coordinator
Bio
Nurit Katz Nurit brings urban ecology experience including outdoor education, wildlife photography, and wildlife rescue. An active volunteer in the study in early years, her unabashed enthusiasm and nest-side skills are hard to match. Nurit is UCLA’s first Chief Sustainability Officer and an Instructor in the UCLA Extension Sustainability Certificate Program. She also currently serves as Commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and serves on the LA City Biodiversity Expert Council. She holds an MBA and a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University, and is pursuing a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA.Â
2024 Raptor Study Volunteers & Acknowledgements:
LA Raptor Study volunteers conducted much of the fieldwork, and provided invaluable ecological information that would have been otherwise difficult to obtain. In particular, we wish to thank the volunteers who completed our training session and tracked active nests for 2024:
Michael Albertson, Kelsey Almendariz, Adrine Arakelian, Thais Arata, Alex Arciniega, Beth Armstrong Shikano, Ashley Atkinson, Moses Aubrey, Vicki Banks, Nina Barry, Katheryn Barton, Julia Becht, Nina Beckhardt, Natalie Beckman-Smith, Shelley Billik, Jessica Blickley, Justin Blodgett, Philip Boche, Harnawaz Boparai, Evan Boucher, Sarah Bowman, Karen Boyarsky, Brett Boydstun, John Bridge, Andrew Briones, Allison Brooker, Mary Brooks, Tad Brown, Carrie Brown-Kornarens, Maddie Brozen, Carol Brusha, Ronald F. Brusha, Diane Caliva, Rocio Carlos, Martha Carreon, Andrea Cavanaugh, Carla Cerda, Meilin Chan, Stephanie Choi, Olivia Clark, Amy Clarke, Chip Clements, Kevin Cooper, Carly Creley, Clare Crespo, Jonathan Daillak. Kchris de Gelsey, Christian de la Torre, Massimo De Maria, Amanda DeMeritt, Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, Austin Douglas, Julie Drake, Carmen Durrer, Victoria Dyer, Adam Eeuwens, A.C. Esguerra, Debbie and Mickey Faigen, Meg Favreau, Dante Fierro, Carrie Fisher-Okmin, Erin Fitzgerald-Haddad, Michele Flynn, Rodney Folkerts, Emily Forscher, Adriana Franco, Jack Garrison-Kingen, Shelly Gaytan, John Gittelsohn, Julia Glassman, Steven Goby, Nicholas Golowko, Jessica Granger, Sandy Gray, Michael Greening, Eric Ha, Kat Halsey, Casey Halter, Eric Halvorsen, Suzie Hanrahan, Sara Harris Ben-Ari, Jon Hofferman, Chonny Hokama, Cynthia Holmes, Cynthia Hubach, Kirsten Hudson, Angela Huff, Michael Hughes, Mark Hunter, Hedy Hutcheson, Surya Jeevanjee, John Jeffrey, FeiFei Jiang, Penelope Jones, Kevin Jones, Amie Jordan, Michael Kaczynski, Rachel Kaminer, Raphael Kaplan, Jack Kappelman, Melanie Kaye, Paul Kaye, Suzanne Kelley, Liz Kennedy, Tracy King, Julie Klabin, Ken Klotzle, Maria-Elena Kolovos, Anthony Kornarens, Diana Kreshek, Katelyn Krowne, Lauren Lake, Jacob Lang, Aliyah Larsen, Suavek Lehmann, Sarah Leonard, Alex Levy, Nikole Liang, Joanne Lin, Madeline Low, Bill Luddy, Trevor Lyon, Alec Lyons, Laurie MacDonald, Greg Macek, Alex MacInnis, Rebecca Marschall, Syd Martinez, Gerry Matthews, Koit McIntire, Patrick McMabell, Lisa Meldrum, Rebeca Méndez, Melissa Mills, Lauren Molina, Christine Moore, David Morales, Andrew Moseman, Agustin Mota, Merigan Mulhern, David Newland, Arkadiy “Ark” Nigay, Elinor Nissley, Jocelyn Nuno, Sandy Olson, Miguel Ordeñana, Nereya Otieno, Harry Pallenberg, Betina Papadeas, Yael Pardess, Randi Parent, Ashley Patton, Sophie Pennes, Nancy Perez, Maggie Perlman, Caleb Peterson, Dan Pierce, Caitlin Pohl, Lauren Poor, Chris Quinn, William Ramirez-Watson, Laurel Randolph, Shana Rapoport, Susan Raudry, Steven Recinos, Brenda Rees, Gary Regester, Rama Rengan, Camila Reyes, Rikka Richardson, Kari Richardson, Julia Rifa, Susana Rinderle, Lissette Rios, Kimberley Rizzo, Sarah Rogers, Jenn Rose, Kristin Rozum, Howard Ruffner, John Savageau, Kate Scarborough, Tori Schachne, Dale Schafer, Dixie Sellers, David Shadovitz, Cam Shaw, Bryan Shepard, Danielle Sherrod, Jillian Shriner, Mary Shurden, Nancy Simpson, Amy Sims, Annie Slagboom, Greg Slak, Leslie Sokolow, Susan Sterr, Susan Streaser, James Strzelinski, Caroline Su, Caroline Symons, Jamie Szabadi, Fran Tait, Eliza Tate, Joseph Taylor, Amy Thompson, Stan Thompson, Jackie Thompson, Annie Thornton, Tiffany Toby, Brian Tomikawa, Linda Topper, Sasha Valarino, Drea Valentine, Carmelo Valone, Paul Vandeventer, Arlene Vargas, Crisanta Velazquez, Diana Wagman, Gail Walpert, Dana Cairns Watson, Michelle West, Petyr Whisky, Amy White, Debra Wilbur, Heather Wilson, Angela Woodside, Jackson Yean, Corrin Yep, George Young, Melissa Young, Jiawen(Jenelle) Yuan, Alexandra Zedalis, Rebecca Zoolman, and Jaimi Zwerling.
Additional thanks go to…
Stefanie Smith, Griffith Section Superintendent, Department of Recreation and Parks, who assisted us with access to several non-public park venues. Los Angeles City Park Rangers, Park Maintenance Division, and Park Urban Ecologist (Courtney McCammon) who provided patrols and maintained signage and fencing to protect a sensitive Peregrine Falcon nesting site in Griffith Park. Officer Jose Navarro and the Los Angeles Animal Services SMART team provided support for challenging re-nesting and rescue efforts, and shared helpful data on new raptor nests. Loews Hotel and Rockhill Management provided access for Peregrine releases. In addition, many residents responded to our outreach and shared helpful tips and notified us of local nests, and we thank them for their information and contributions to this study.
LA Raptor Study Volunteer Membership
Support FoGP’s Raptor Study
The best way to support the ongoing LA Raptor Study is by becoming a member of Friends of Griffith Park! Memberships start at $25. Join today!
FoGP is grateful for all our LA Raptor Study Volunteers. You continue to make this project successful year after year. When the final results of the year are shared, we hope you will be proud knowing you played a part!
Your support helps us to continue important preservation and advocacy work to keep Griffith Park the urban wilderness we need.
As a 501(c)(3) organization, your contribution is deductible to the full extent of the law.
How to Donate
Donate conveniently below or by check to Friends of Griffith Park (please specify RAPTOR STUDY VOLUNTEER MEMBERSHIP on the memo line). If you are already a member, go ahead and donate here again.
Friends of Griffith Park
P.O. Box 27573
Los Angeles, CA 90027-0573
Raptor Study Volunteer Membership
Click below to securely pay with a credit card.