SoCal Birding Guides - Big Bear
Big Bear Lake and the surrounding San Bernardino Mountains are a favorite early summer destination for SoCal birders. In addition to supporting many of our mountain specialties, difficult to find birds like Gray Vireo and occasionally Whip-poor-will and Hepatic Tanager can often be found. Most birding in these mountains are on very rough dirt roads and high clearance 4wd vehicles are highly recommended, if not necessary.
Area Specialties
- Common Loon
- Pacific Loon
- Western Grebe
- Clark's Grebe
- American White Pelican
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- California Quail
- Mountain Quail
- California Gull
- Band-tailed Pigeon
- Flammulated Owl
- Western Screech-Owl
- Northern Pygmy-Owl
- Lesser Nighthawk
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Poorwill
- Whip-poor-will
- Black Swift
- Vaux's Swift
- White-throated Swift
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Anna's Hummingbird
- Costa's Hummingbird
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Rufous Hummingbird
- Allen's Hummingbird
- Red-naped Sapsucker
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Williamson's Sapsucker
- Nuttall's Woodpecker
- White-headed Woodpecker
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Hammond's Flycatcher
- Gray Flycatcher
- Pacific-slope Flycatcher
- Black Phoebe
- Cassin's Kingbird
- Western Kingbird
- Violet-green Swallow
- Stellar's Jay
- Pinyon Jay
- Clark's Nutcracker
- Oak Titmouse
- Bushtit
- Pygmy Nuthatch
- Rock Wren
- Canyon Wren
- American Dipper
- Western Bluebird
- Townsend's Solitaire
- Wrentit
- Sage Thrasher
- California Thrasher
- Phainopepla
- Bell's Vireo
- Gray Vireo
- Cassin's Vireo
- Plumbeous Vireo
- Hutton's Vireo
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Townsend's Warbler
- Hermit Warbler
- MacGillivray's Warbler
- Green-tailed Towhee
- California Towhee
- Rufous-crowned Sparrow
- Brewer's Sparrow
- Black-chinned Sparrow
- Black-throated Sparrow
- Sage Sparrow
- Golden-crowned Sparrow
- "Sooty" Fox Sparrow
- "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow
- "Thick-billed" Fox Sparrow
- Tricolored Blackbird
- Hooded Oriole
- Scott's Oriole
- Cassin's Finch
- Lesser Goldfinch
- Lawrence's Goldfinch