Sitting atop Wildcat Way in Tonner Canyon, the secluded BOHS campus is bracketed on two sides by an expanse of plant life and natural terrain, ideal habitats for animals.
Without the obstacles and dangers of an increasingly dense Brea downtown and its ever-expanding neighborhoods, one animal in particular thrives: birds.
It’s easy to miss the many feathered friends that fly over, and often land within, the BOHS campus, while students hustle to class and participate in after-school activities.
But there is an abundance of birds within the borders of our isolated campus, living in close proximity with students from their safe nesting spaces atop light fixtures and roofs and within the many trees. The left-behind scraps of student lunches, a reliable source of food, entice the birds to the quad and lunch area.
Some teachers, like Jill Matyuch, psychology and government teacher, even lead their students on “nature walks” to promote relaxation and birding (watching birds in their natural habitats). Matyuch encourages students to participate in the bird watching by giving the first student to spot a specific bird — a hard-to-spot hummingbird, for example — extra credit.
“When students are inside their classrooms, the birds tend to come out more,” Matyuch said. “You’d be surprised how many birds of different types you can find on our campus.”
Joel Song (’25), photographer for the Wildcat and avid birder, photographed thirteen different species to showcase the diversity of the birds that are a melodic and colorful part of the BOHS community. Click through the slideshow below for a glimpse of BOHS’s relationship with the area’s wildlife.
Source for photo captions: All About Birds
