It probably comes as no surprise that there is an abundance of birds inhabiting the Southern Humboldt region where great emphasis is placed on maintaining parks and wilderness areas in their natural state as much as possible.

All forms of wildlife know a good thing when they see it and many of them take advantage of the refuge offered by the area.

Because of this, visitors who enjoy bird watching will find themselves entertained for hours, particularly in the King Range National Conservation area where habitats vary from seashore, prairie, forest and rocky areas.

The oceanfront habitat of King Range stretches for 30 miles from south of Shelter Cove north to the Mattole River estuary and includes both rocky and sandy terrain.

The estuary provides important habitat for migrating fowl and birds that winter in the area. More than half of the land habitat of King Range consists of evergreen forest with mixed species of trees, and about half of it has been burned over or cut.

Remaining habitat types include manzanita chaparral, coastal prairie grass, and northern coastal scrub.

An abundance of fresh water streams with their varying quantities of riparian vegetation bordering them, such as willows, alders,

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and maple trees plus other shrubs.

About two-thirds of the land bird species are said to depend on riparian areas to fulfill all or part of their habitat requirements.

Interested birdwatchers are invited to participate in gathering information that will help refine the knowledge of bird life in the King Range area. Information on sightings may be sent to the Bureau of Land Management, Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata, CA 95521-4573.

Bird species known to inhabit the King Range include loons, grebes, Shearwater, gulls, kittiwakes, terns, murre, guillemots, murrelets, auklet, pigeons, doves, geese, ducks, swift, hummingbirds, kingfisher, flickers, woodpeckers, flycatchers, larks, swallows, martins, jays, crows, ravens, vultures, hawks, eagles, and falcons.

Also chickadees, bushtit, nuthatch, creepers, wrens, dippers, grouse, quail, coots, shorebirds, kinglets, bluebirds, thrushes, robins, wrentit, thrasher, pipit, waxwing, starling, tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, sparrows, juncos, blackbirds, cowbirds, orioles, crossbills, finches, vireos, warblers, yellowthroats, chat, owls, and a few irregularly occurring species.