Wildlife near Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles runs from the surf line to mountain ridges inside the county line, and the wildlife is just as stretched. Mountain lions genuinely live in the hills above the city, coyotes trot suburban sidewalks at dawn, and Anna’s hummingbirds hold territory year round. The Ballona wetlands and the LA River (yes, it has wildlife) pull in herons, egrets, and shorebirds, while the canyons hold western fence lizards, California towhees, and the occasional bobcat.
Everything below is pulled live from recent research-grade observations near Los Angeles. Browse by group, explore the map, and identify what you find with Huck.
Naturalists have logged 361,439 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Los Angeles. The most frequently seen is the Western Fence Lizard, with 37,901 recorded sightings.
Birds account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (19 of the species listed here), followed by insects & arthropods (4).
Most-observed species near Los Angeles
Built from recent research-grade iNaturalist observations. Identifications are community-sourced and may occasionally be wrong, and the ranking reflects where people record and photograph wildlife, so a species seen often here is not necessarily rare elsewhere. Some plants and animals are only out in certain seasons. Treat this as a lively snapshot of what people are finding, not a formal checklist.
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