10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2014

As bird lovers, we’re happy that laws exist to protect birds, and that people are especially looking after protected species. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, Double-crested Cormorants are interfering with plans to tear down the old Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco.

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Oakland Massachusetts United States 166

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2023

I can still recall the thrill of that first morning outside San Francisco, surrounded by new birds. It was during this period that I took part in a bird race in Kenya, where I saw 290 species in one day, 442 in two. Thus in 48 hours I’d seen more species of birds than most people see in a lifetime in Britain.

Sri Lanka 241

Sri Lanka Kenya San Francisco Greece 241

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2022

Last week, I wrote about my recent trip from my current home of Morelia, Mexico to my childhood home of the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States, and how several species can be found in both places, in spite of how far apart they are, and yet look quite different in each place. Different, but the same, if I may.

Mexico 208

Mexico San Francisco California United States 208

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

At the Northwest corner of San Francisco is Point Lobos. With the breeding colony concentrated on one small island this species is vulnerable to a catastrophic weather event. If you want to learn a lot about bird species, I find “Birds of North America Online” the best resource on the net. v=FUBX_tlHySc.

San Francisco 159

San Francisco North America Seals Sanctuary 159

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

This lake, with a surface area of up to 150 square miles in good years, is my go-to site for dozens of waterfowl and shorebird species, so I take its health personally. It is also a vital wintering and migratory site for most of these species, so I imagine they take its health very personally, as well.

San Francisco 264

San Francisco 2018 Mexico Ducks 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2011

I moved to San Francisco from Minnesota 12 years ago. It was kindled by my grandmother when I was a child but lay dormant until I’d spent enough time in San Francisco to feel at home. Now I’ve moved to Bolinas, just north of San Francisco and water is now big part of my life.

San Francisco 215

San Francisco California Condor Coyotes Iceland 215

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2022

So I could add this species to the Double-crested Cormorant I had previously seen on the lake that runs up the San Andreas rift valley, which formed the San Francisco Peninsula. What could be more Californian than a Surfin’ Bird ? There were Brandt’s Cormorants flying over the Surf Scoters.

San Francisco 147

San Francisco California Battery Ducks 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2021

I may still develop this idea, but I’ll advance the information that the only species on his list that I commonly see here are, in order of prevalence, the Yellow-rumped , Wilson’s , Townsend’s , Black-and-White , and MacGillivray’s Warblers. The climate is pleasant year-round (it’s 74º F as I write).

Los Angeles 205

Los Angeles San Francisco Costa Rica Birds 205

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

In January 1971, two oil tankers collided under the Golden Gate Bridge, spilling more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into the San Francisco Bay. Last weekend I was treated to a tour of their San Francisco Bay facility, located in Fairfield, California, by the Wildlife Center Manager, Michelle Bellizzi.

Bird Rescue 207

Bird Rescue Rescue San Francisco Birds 207

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2017

A Bay Area native, he started birding while working at a large law firm in San Francisco, but birds less frequently now that there’s a toddler around so he writes instead.

Puerto Rico 100

Puerto Rico San Francisco Portland Laws 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

Recently a Fork-tailed Flycatcher was reported from a park in San Francisco, a long ways away from its home in Central and South America. Pin-tailed Whydah at Sutro Heights Park, San Francisco, CA. Superficially similar to Fork-tailed Flycatcher, especially if you don’t know that this species exists!

San Francisco 173

San Francisco San Diego Connecticut South America 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2020

For, in birder lingo, a split occurs when subspecies are determined to be, in fact, entirely separate species. If you happen to have seen both species, your life list can increase without you even leaving the house. Two former species can also be joined into one, the same way. And there was great rejoicing thoughout the land!)

San Diego 185

San Diego San Francisco Mexico Baltimore 185

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2019

Before I moved north to Portland, I lived in San Francisco. According to eBird, there have been approximately 270 species seen at the hotspot that includes the harbor. When I was a new birder, I adopted Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay as a “patch.”. Sequoia Audubon Society has an excellent overview of the hotspot.)

San Francisco 134

San Francisco Portland Whales Whaling 134

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2012

It was almost as if the species had been forgotten. This individual was seen during a recent visit to San Francisco while I was looking for a Great Horned Owl’s nest in Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco 221

San Francisco North America Owls America 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2015

In February of 2013, I wrote a piece outlining my thoughts on which exotic bird species should be added to the American Bird Association (ABA) checklist. In 2014, the Florida Ornithological Society Records Committee (FOSRC) voted to add this species to the Florida state list. The ABA Checklist Committee quickly followed suit.

Los Angeles 154

Los Angeles Miami San Francisco Florida 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2019

Just imagine, for instance, that a new species of white-headed gull was added to your field guide every few years and you’ll have an idea of the current head-scratching state of proliferating IPA variations.

Pelicans 121

Pelicans India San Francisco Oregon 121

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2022

Instead, they usually just describe species seen at a specific location, with the vague notion that these descriptions might be interesting to other birders. It looks quite distinct compared to some of the other recently discovered species. I guess my sympathy is more with the Plain Bunting, if such a species existed.

China 220

China Birds Asia Vietnam 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

As I always do on the way home, following a short visit to the San Francisco Bay Area, I take in at least one of the National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) found in the Sacramento Valley. One species I can always count on at Colusa NWR is the Black-crowned Night-Heron ( Nycticorax nycticorax ), which boasts a large resident population.

Wildlife 159

Wildlife San Francisco Sacramento North Dakota 159

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

Critically, NWRs preserve habitat and wildlife, often for endangered species. Creating a dozen jobs in a small rural community is far more important to that community than creation of a dozen jobs is to San Francisco or Chicago.

Wildlife 258

Wildlife Maryland San Francisco Minnesota 258

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2017

We had been at sea for 5 days and 5 nights, over 100 miles off shore, sailing non-stop from the USA-Canada border to San Francisco. Both species frequent the marina that I live in, and are quite common throughout the entire tidal areas of the La Paz area. One of these is my very first Black-crowned Night Heron.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Shelters Canada California 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2014

I have been searching through the internet this evening trying to find support for some behaviour that I witnessed at Fort Mason, San Francisco, this week. It was at the bottom of some steps leading from the gun placements at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The sapsucker was seen first.

San Francisco 180

San Francisco Maryland Jordan Lifestyle 180

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

The species name is long enough to be the middle line of a formal English haiku. You also learn that for birds that spend most of their lives drifting above the ocean and sleeping on the wing, the species isn’t exactly aquatic. I was working at the San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center , where the bird was taken.

Los Angeles 248

Los Angeles Killing Wildlife Rehabilitation San Francisco 248

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2019

Why this one city alone would be named for birds, in this country of 1,800 species, is unclear, but it could very well be a designation inspired by the nearby Islas Ballestas, an uninhabited island group just offshore from Pisco and home to enormous breeding colonies of Humboldt Penguins , Inca Terns , Peruvian Boobies , and many other species.

Peru 126

Peru San Francisco Parrots Chile 126

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2019

My first birding period was over 40 years ago, in the San Francisco Bay Area. But then I moved to Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, which has almost no opportunities to see interesting species (except for a good population of burrowing owls). This is Paul’s first post for 10,000 Birds. east of Morelia.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Mexico Turkey California 117

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 23, 2011

Take a look at these range maps for the two species. If you live north of the San Francisco Bay area in California like I do, or north of Delaware on the east coast, you would most likely be looking at a Greater Yellowlegs. ” Once you hear the calls of these two species, you will have no problem telling them apart.

San Francisco 165

San Francisco Delaware Jordan New York 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2011

Tales like how he’s the only one with all forty-seven Red Crossbill species already figured out and checked off his life list. Or how he once rode a pair of Brown Pelicans from San Francisco to Cape May because he heard Pete Dunne needed some help identifying raptors.

San Francisco 223

San Francisco Birds Pelicans Woodpeckers 223

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2016

In conjunction with our concept change, we hired a San Francisco Bay Area graphic artist to design our new logo, and we’ll be ramping up even more, our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Instagram. It’s modern, and its design can be adapted for a variety of uses (see below). WE NEED YOUR FEEDBACK.

Wildlife 188

Wildlife San Francisco Legislation Ducks 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2016

Farallon NWR , a group of islands near San Francisco, hosts the largest colonies of breeding seabirds south of Alaska. But when taken as a whole, the impact of the Refuge System is truly profound, supporting population-level numbers of numerous bird species. It’s not just for the birds.

Wildlife 189

Wildlife Grizzly Bear Puerto Rico United States 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2013

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel: Pictured above, it is rumored that Band-rumped Storm-Petrel may actually consist of multiple cryptic species. Cory’s Shearwater : There has been much speculation over whether or not Cory’s Shearwater consists of two species; C. diomedea (“Scopoli’s” Shearwater) and C.

San Francisco 181

San Francisco Fox Sparrows California 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

We rented a car and drove to Point Reyes from San Francisco early on a Saturday morning, stopping for a quick detour at Muir Woods (because who wouldn’t stop there?). The road was lined with scrub and short trees, and I spotted not one but two new sparrow species.

Seals 194

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 194

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

Many species that are currently common may stay that way, and some species will likely increase…and hopefully species besides House Sparrows , European Starlings , Rock Pigeons and Eurasian Collared-Doves , which those in North America know as the four avian horsemen of the apocalypse.

North America 226

North America Birds San Francisco Suffering 226

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

It should be stated that the two locations mentioned above, where the warbler and nightjar were, were the only places in the whole country these species could reliably be found. He was the only birder to lay eyes on it that night. Do those birds really need to be bombarbed by playback by countless visiting birders?

San Francisco 232

San Francisco New York Experience Experiments 232

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

The USVI are smaller and have fewer habitats and, as a result, fewer bird species. Puerto Rico has a checklist of 269 species, 207 of which are migratory and the USVI has a checklist of 149 species, 124 of which are migratory. Herbert Rafaelle includes 284 species in his field guide , which covers both territories.)

Puerto Rico 164

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Hawaii United States 164

Animal Person

APRIL 26, 2009

Vamsee Juluri, Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, takes me back to graduate school when he writes of the importance of the stories we tell ourselves in " Use Free Speech to Celebrate Animal Life, Not to Enjoy Their Suffering."

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Cruelty Vivisection Open Rescue 100

4 The Love Of Animals

JULY 3, 2010

CSI actress Jorja Fox, the ADI spokesperson for the operation, greeted the lions when they arrived in San Francisco said: “These magnificent lions have lived all their lives in a tiny cage on the back of a truck. They have never felt the grass beneath their feet or had the space to truly run and play.

ADI 100

ADI Animal Defenders International Bolivia Lions 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

Eighteen-hour trips are the rule and only about four or five hours are spent in the prime area to see the species most birders are hoping to see. That would be the Northern Gannet that has made the rocky coast near San Francisco its home for the last four years. That said, I’ve had some pretty amazing trips over the years.

Whales 113

Whales Whaling Albatross Dolphins 113