The only open section is from the Ash Mountain Entrance near Three Rivers, CA, to Hospital Rock. It is not possible to drive to Giant Forest or the Sherman Tree. Portions of the highway will be reopened as they are safe for vehicle travel. More
Foothills Visitor Center Is Closed Mondays and Tuesdays Until Further Notice
Generals Highway is closed between the junction with Wolverton Road and Montecito Sequoia Lodge. This is a normal winter closure due to snow and ice accumulation. This section of the highway is expected to reopen March 21. More
Crescent Meadow Road and Moro Rock Loop Road Closed For the Season Due To Snow Accumulation
The roads are closed to vehicle traffic for the winter season, but will remain open to winter recreation such as hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. Roads will reopen in spring when the snow melts.
Highway 180 Access To Cedar Grove Area of Kings Canyon National Park Closed For the Season
Highway 180 is closed east of Hume Lake Road for the winter season. Cedar Grove is not accessible. This section of road typically reopens in late April.
The portion of Mineral King Road inside Sequoia National Park is closed for the winter season to the general public. The road typically reopens in May on the Wednesday before Memorial Day, but could be later depending on conditions.
Several Small Roads Closed Due to Roadway Damage Or Snow Accumulation
These roads are closed due to roadway damage during past storm events or due to snow accumulation: Crystal Cave Rd, Middle Fork Rd, Redwood Canyon Rd, South Fork Rd, Panoramic Point Rd, Main Sherman Tree Parking, lower parking lot at Giant Forest Museum More
Over 200 species of birds use the diverse habitats found in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. These habitats range from gently-sloping foothill grasslands, to conifer forests, and windswept alpine tundra and peaks. While some bird species live in the parks year-round, others only use the parks for breeding or as a stopover during migration. In recognition of our bird diversity and critical habitats for breeding, stopover, and wintering, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are designated as Globally Important Bird Areas.
Bird enthusiasts visiting the parks will see different bird behaviors depending on the time of year and habitat. During the winter, the foothills provide opportunities to see California quail rustling under shrubs or perching on rocks; flocks of band-tailed pigeons searching for an evening roost; or acorn woodpeckers calling to one another among the oaks. During spring and fall, large numbers of birds can be seen and heard as they seek food to fuel their long migratory journeys. In spring, look for flocks of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and tanagers; their brightly-colored feathers and distinctive songs help them establish nesting territories. In the summer, birds are active and easy to spot throughout the parks . It's a great time to hike to high-elevation areas to watch Clark's nutcrackers harvest seeds from pine cones.
Future bird watching opportunities will likely change as our climate changes. Current research indicates a shift in timing of nesting of over 200 species of birds in California's Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. Different species are nesting from 5 to 12 days earlier than typical, likely to avoid warming spring temperatures that can kill young nesting birds. Some bird species, such as the Clark's nutcracker and the California spotted owl, could be affected as climate changes their habitats. In these parks, hotter drought and white pine blister rust could impact nutcrackers by reducing their habitat. California spotted owl habitat could be affected by a combination of of hotter drought, tree mortality, and wildfire. Other predicted climate impacts are changes in bird communities, with some species being lost in the parks due to changing climate and other new species arriving. Ecological systems are complex and it is difficult to anticipate how the interactions of changing climate and other factors may interact to change bird communities now and into the future. Yet, park managers continue to learn about possible changes and take management actions to improve the resilience and adaptation of our plant and animal communities.
Learn more about endangered California condors, and their status in the parks.
Visit the photo gallery below to enjoy some examples of the wide diversity of birds in these parks.
Bird Species Checklist
Get a bird checklist for the parks by selecting birds in the search box below. Be aware that National Park Service staff are in-process of updating species lists to be consistent with current information.
Species Attribute Definitions
Definitions
Occurrence
Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.
Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.
Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.
Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.
Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.
Occurrence Tags
Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.
False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.
Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.
Abundance
Abundant:
Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.
Common:
Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.
Uncommon:
Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.
Rare:
Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.
Occasional:
Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).
Unknown: Abundance unknown
Nativeness
Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.
Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.
Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.
List Differences
The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.
The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.
The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.
Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.
More Information
For information on bird monitoring in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and other Sierra Nevada parks (Yosemite National Park and Devils Postpile National Monument), visit the Sierra Nevada Network Inventory & Monitoring Program bird project web page. See the articles below to learn more about bird monitoring in these parks and what we are learning.
Locations:Acadia National Park, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Antietam National Battlefield, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Bluestone National Scenic River, Booker T Washington National Monument, Catoctin Mountain Park, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Colonial National Historical Park, Crater Lake National Park, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Devils Postpile National Monument, Eisenhower National Historic Site, Fort Necessity National Battlefield, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, Friendship Hill National Historic Site, Gauley River National Recreation Area, George Washington Memorial Parkway, George Washington Birthplace National Monument, Gettysburg National Military Park, Grand Teton National Park, Haleakalā National Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park, Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller National Historical Park, Minute Man National Historical Park, Monocacy National Battlefield, Morristown National Historical Park, Mount Rainier National Park, National Capital Parks-East, New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, Petersburg National Battlefield, Prince William Forest Park, Richmond National Battlefield Park, Rock Creek Park, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, Saratoga National Historical Park, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Thomas Stone National Historic Site, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Weir Farm National Historical Park, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Parkmore »
Offices:Eastern Rivers and Mountains Inventory & Monitoring Network, Greater Yellowstone Inventory & Monitoring Network, Inventory and Monitoring Division, Mid-Atlantic Inventory & Monitoring Network, National Capital Inventory & Monitoring Network, North Coast and Cascades Inventory & Monitoring Network, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Inventory & Monitoring Network, Northeast Temperate Inventory & Monitoring Network, Pacific Island Inventory & Monitoring Network, Rocky Mountain Inventory & Monitoring Network, Sierra Nevada Inventory & Monitoring Networkmore »
From coast to coast, the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division is helping park managers improve the health and function of forest ecosystems. From promoting resilient forests in the Northeast, to conserving whitebark pine in the West, to protecting Hawaiian forest birds from avian malaria, scientific partnerships are helping parks to share information, leverage funding sources, and work together for outcomes that extend beyond what any park could accomplish on its own.
Locations:Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yosemite National Park
Offices:Inventory and Monitoring Division
Clark’s nutcrackers favor the seeds of whitebark pines, which they cache in great numbers. Whitebark pines are largely dependent on nutcrackers for seed dispersal; many cached seeds are not retrieved and go on to germinate. The tree is in decline due to native bark beetles, a non-native fungus, and climate change. Will the bird turn to other food sources? A recent study analyzes data on both species from the Cascades and Sierra to understand the risk to this mutualism.
Locations:Devils Postpile National Monument, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yosemite National Park
Birds occur across a wide range of habitats and their sensitivity to change makes them good indicators of ecosystem health. The Sierra Nevada Network partners with The Institute for Bird Populations to monitor breeding-bird species. Population trends between 2011 and 2019 are summarized by species and park, and in relation to mean spring temperature and amount of snow. Learn which species were increasing or declining at network parks during this period.
Locations:Devils Postpile National Monument, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Yosemite National Park
More than 60 percent of the vertebrate species in Sierra Nevada Network parks are birds. These parks provide critical breeding, stopover, and wintering habitats for birds, but there are numerous stressors such as climate change and habitat loss that cause declines in some bird populations. Learn more about why birds are good indicators of ecosystem change and how they are being monitored.
