Bay Area Hiker: Birds


	Birds
	Sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk, autumn, San Francisco (retrieved from inside our house!) Bewick's wren (Thryomanes bewickii), spring, Año Nuevo Reserve Say's phoebe (Sayornis saya), autumn, Mount Davidson, San Francisco Greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), spring, Año Nuevo Reserve California towhee (Pipilo crissalis), autumn, San Francisco backyard Sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus), winter, San Francisco backyard Golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) and white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), autumn, San Francisco backyard Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus, female shown), autumn, San Francisco backyard Chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens), winter, San Francisco backyard Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), spring, Quail Loop Trail, Junipero Serra County Park Wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo): A tom and two females, winter, High Ridge Loop Trail, Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park View more turkey photos American avocet (Recurvirostra americana), summer, Hayward Regional Shoreline Vulture (Cathartes aura), winter, El Sereno Open Space Preserve Canada goose (Branta canadensis), spring, Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area Great blue heron (Ardea herodias), spring, Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area Kestrel (Falco sparverius), Arastradero Open Space Preserve, Santa Clara County Scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), Edgewood Park and Preserve		Allen's hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin), spring, San Francisco backyard Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), spring, Glen Canyon, San Francisco Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), late winter, D.U.S.T. Trail, Coyote Hills Regional Park Fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca), autumn, San Francisco backyard House finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), winter, San Francisco backyard (two on upper section are males; one on lower is female) Oregon junco (Junco hyemalis), autumn, San Francisco backyard Pine siskins (Carduelis pinus), autumn, San Francisco backyard American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), summer, Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds Western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis), spring, Estero Trail, Point Reyes Great egret (Casmerodius albus), summer, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), autumn, Blufftop Coastal Park Common raven (Corvus corax), autumn, Bothin Marsh Open Space Preserve Northern harrier (Circus cyaneus), winter, Bald Mountain Trail, Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve California quail (Callipepla californica), Point Reyes National Seashore Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), spring, San Francisquito Trail, Baylands Preserve
	Suggested reading and resources: • Birds of San Francisco and the Bay Area, by Chris C. Fisher and Joseph Morlan (order this book from Amazon.com). • Birds of North America, by Kenn Kaufman. My favorite all-purpose birding guide (order this book from Amazon.com). • Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs: Western Region, by Kevin J. Colver with Donald and Lillian Stokes (order this cd set from Amazon.com). This 4-cd set is a collection of all major western bird calls and songs. The common bird name is spoken and followed by a series of recorded calls and/or songs. A printed booklet is included in the set. If you're trying to expand your birding world, learning to bird by ear is the way to go, and being able to identify individual bird noises is invaluable. I recommend using the cds in conjunction with a bird field guide -- then you can weed out the birds not found wherever you happen to be (many rare southern Texas and Alaska birds are included on the cds) and more effectively narrow down a search. • Peterson Field Guides: Hawks of North America, by William S. Clark/Brian K. Wheeler (order this book from Amazon.com) (Note: a new edition of this book in expected in autumn 2001) • National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region, by Miklos D.F. Udvardy (order this book from Amazon.com) Links: Golden Gate Audubon Society http://www.goldengateaudubon.org Marin Audubon Society http://www.marinaudubon.org Point Reyes Bird Observatory http://www.prbo.org Ornithology Web Site (with photographs) http://www.birdwebsite.com Golden Gate Raptor Observatory http://www.ggro.org/ggro.html Watchable Wildlife http://www.dfg.ca.gov/watchable/index.html CONE Sutro Forest http://cone.berkeley.edu/ All About Birds http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/ Virtual Birder http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/

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