BIRDS OF A FEATHER HOW TO HELP AUDUBON SOCIETY WITH BACKYARD CENSUS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Finally, you've got a chance to meet your neighbors.

Not the ones who complain your music is too loud or the grass is overgrown, but those little feathered friends that chirp, caw and cavort in your back yard.

The third annual Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York takes place across the country Feb. 16-19, and it's an opportunity for everybody to document the number and different species of birds around their homes and report the findings in order to create a national database, says Martha Balkan, a 20-year member of the Los Angeles Audubon Society.

According to Balkan, ``The National Audubon Society has been counting birds at Christmastime since the early 1900s, but the count is for society chapters and each group is responsible for a 17-mile radius, so the Great Backyard Bird Count is a way to have access to private property. Plus it's an opportunity for the public to observe what's in their own back yard and a way for parents to get their children involved.''

In the past, local participants of the Great Backyard Bird Watch called in their findings to the San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, but now everything takes place on the Internet, says past president Muriel Kotin, who is directing participants to www.BirdSource.org. The site features instructions on how to accurately report findings, including a vocabulary section, an ``Introduction to Birding,'' a special request for quail and bald eagle reports, and a reminder that findings for each day are to be reported separately.

Bird watching, which can be done leisurely over a morning cup of coffee (the best bird-watching hours are dawn to 10 a.m.), is the fastest-growing outdoor recreation with more than 60 million participants, says Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Last year, 62,475 people participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, says Cornell Lab's spokeswoman Allison Wells, reporting almost 5 million birds and 419 species, compared to the first year which had 42,000 participants.

And many of those birders are from California.

Says Wells, ``California has ranked second to Texas on reporting the most species in 1999 and 2000. The most commonly seen bird was the house finch, with 1,586 reported, followed by doves and jays. Bluebirds, however, are the most rare, with only 130 reports.''

Think your sighting doesn't really count? Wells says the Web site has a map with red dots for each sighting and additions are made every 15 minutes, so you can see your report almost instantly.

But please follow the instructions on the Web site, these bird experts advise, to make your report as accurate as possible. They also suggest using binoculars (7 power or higher) or a spotting scope, and also a field guide for reference.

WINGING IT

For novices who haven't paid much attention to the birds in their back yards, and didn't invest in a bird book, Los Angeles Audubon Society member Larry Allen, who works as project coordinator for the Los Angeles County Breeding Bird Atlas, offers a list of the most common birds found in the San Fernando and surrounding valleys:

Bluebirds: A blue bird that is much smaller and more shy than a jay; mostly found in the foothills of Pasadena, Malibu and Topanga.

Brewer's blackbirds: A small bird with shiny black feathers and white eyes.

Crows: Bigger than a blackbird and entirely black, including eyes. Recognizable by its ``caw'' sound. They can take over a yard and scare off smaller birds as well as cats.

Mourning doves: Smaller than common pigeons, these beige-gray birds are easily identifiable by their ``cooing'' sounds.

Ravens: Look like crows but even bigger, and mostly seen in the mountains or deserts instead of the Valley floor.

Starlings: A small bird with a black body and yellow bill.

Yellow-rumped warblers: A small sparrowlike bird that can be gray- brown or black and white, depending on the season, but always noted for its yellow rump and throat.

Western scrub jays: Mistakenly called a blue jay, these aggressive- but-friendly large blue birds are fairly large and have a distinctive fan- shaped tail. They tend to scare off smaller birds such as finches.

Woodpeckers: There are three similar-looking varieties that are common to this area, particularly in the Conejo Valley, where there are a lot of oak trees. They are sparrow-sized, with a black body and either white patches or stripes. Like the cartoon character, all of the males have red heads.

Bushtits: A very small brownish gray bird that measures about 4 inches long with an equally long tail. It's known for ``peeping'' sounds and is usually seen flying in a flock, landing on bushes rather than trees.

Also look for sea gulls, ducks, geese, swans, pelicans and egrets in communities such as Westlake Village and Lake Sherwood, quail in the desert areas, and the rare bald eagle, which is often confused with hawks and vultures.

JOIN THE CLUB

The Los Angeles Audubon Society was founded in 1910 as a chapter of the National Audubon Society and is dedicated to conservation, with emphasis on the study, appreciation and protection of birds and their habitats.

Meetings are held at 8 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month, September through June, at Plummer Park in West Hollywood.

For more information, contact the local society at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, Calif. 90046-6694; phone [phone]. Web page is www.LAAudubon.org; e-mail address is laas(at)LAAudubon.org.

In addition to meetings, there are several bird-watching opportunities offered to the public, including:

Descanso Gardens: Group meets at 8 a.m. the second Sunday of each month, inside the front gate at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. For more information, call Karen Johnson at [phone].

Malibu Creek State Park: Group meets at 8 a.m. the third Sunday of each month, in the last parking lot at Las Virgenes Road, one-quarter mile south of Mulholland Boulevard. Parking fee is $5. For information, call [phone].

Franklin Canyon: Meets at 8 a.m. the fourth Saturday of the month in the parking lot of the Sooky Goldman Nature Center on Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills. For information and directions, call Dr. Paul Cooley at [phone].

Sepulveda Basin Nature Center: Meets at 8 a.m. the first Sunday of the month in the first parking lot. For information and directions, call Kris Ohlenkamp at [phone].

BOOKS FOR BIRDERS

You don't have to have a field guide to be a birder (a person who watches birds for a hobby), but these small, portable books with photos and species descriptions - referred to as field marks - can help you distinguish one woodpecker from another.

Twenty-year veteran birder Martha Balkan, who manages the Los Angeles Audubon Society bookstore at 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, says there are hundreds of books on birds, but these are her favorites:

``National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America (National Geographic; $19.95).

``Peterson's Field Guides: Western Birds (Houghton Mifflin; $18)'' by Roger Tory Peterson.

``Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region (Little, Brown & Co.; $17.95)'' by Donald and Lillian Stokes.

``The National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Western Region'' (Knopf; $19).

CAPTION(S):

9 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Dark-eyed junco 

(2 -- color) House finches: Brown with red forehead and chest on males.

(3 -- color) Northern mockingbirds: A fairly large gray bird with a long tail and white patches on the wings. They sing at night and imitate the chatter of other birds.

(4 -- color) Hummingbirds: The most common variety of hummingbird in the area is Anna's, noted for an iridescent green back. Males have a red cap and throat. They are very territorial and will buzz you if you get too close to their nest.

(5 -- color) Mourning doves

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(6 -- color) Brewer's blackbird

(7 -- color) Crows

(8 -- color) Blue Bird

(9 -- color) Bushtits

Cornell Laboratory of Orinthology

Box: (1) Winging It (see text)

(2) Join the Club (see text)

(3) Books for Birders (see text)