Bear Divide is a recently discovered dawn migration hotspot located in the Angeles National Forest just 35 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles. Very few dawn migration sites have been identified in the U.S., especially on the West Coast. Bear Divide is nested in the San Gabriel Mountains at just over 500m above sea level with neighboring mountains at 800m creating a low, narrow funnel through the mountains. We believe this funnel is creating a unique passageway allowing high concentrations of birds to pass through, often at eye-level. Most birds typically migrate at night and at higher altitudes, but Bear Divide presents a unique location where we can gather species-specific information on species abundance, diversity, and migratory phenology, and how these vary year-to-year. In 2020, we started an unofficial survey of birds moving through Bear Divide and launched the official, standardized migration count project in 2021.

This project was established by Ryan Terrill while he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology. Since his departure from California, the project has continued to be led by Kelsey Reckling (PhD Student at UCLA and Researcher at the Moore Lab of Zoology).​

You can support this effort by donating to the project, or by coming out to the site and helping us count birds! ​​

MERCH

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​Click here to buy a Bear Divide Migration Count T-Shirt

JOIN US

March 15 - June 1
6:30am — 10:00am
The best times to visit the site are between April 15th - May 10th.
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We begin counting birds on March 15th, but there is typically little movement at this time. We begin our counts this early in the season to establish a baseline for when birds begin to move through the area.

The weather at the site can be highly variable, and we will see little to no movement during rain and foggy conditions.
Please keep this in mind when deciding when to visit the site.
Other things to note:
  • We recommend dressing in layers as weather can change quickly (cold, hot, wind, sun).
  • There are no bathrooms on site.
  • There are two fire stations that use the area, so please abide by any signage and do not leave any of your belongings in the road as it is frequented by fire personnel vehicles.
  • ​Although we are collaborators, our colleagues who run the bird banding station are a separate entity than the migration count team. You can find the banding team's website here.