Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge
This is a comprehensive field guide to the all known bird species that preside or migrate through this Refuge.
Dusky Flycatcher
The American Dusky Flycatcher, or simply Dusky Flycatcher, (Empidonax oberholseri) is a small, insectivorous passerine of the tyrant flycatcher family.
Willow Flycatcher
The Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) is a small insect-eating, neotropical migrant bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. There are four subspecies of the Willow Flycatcher currently recognized, all of which breed in North America (including three subspecies which breed in California). Empidonax flycatchers are almost impossible to tell apart in the field so biologists use ...more ↓
Black Phoebe
The Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates less than the other birds in its genus, though its northern populations are partially migratory. Six subspecies are commonly recognized, ...more ↓
Say's Phoebe
The adult Say's Phoebe is a drab, chunky bird. It is gray-brown above with a black tail and buffy cinnamon below, becoming more orange around the vent. The tail is long and the primaries end just past the rump on resting birds. The wings seem pale in flight and resemble a female ...more ↓
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) is a very small passerine bird found throughout North America. It is a member of the kinglet family. The bird has olive-green plumage with two white wing bars and a white eye-ring. Males have a red crown patch, which is usually concealed. The sexes are identical (apart from the crown), and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults. ...more ↓
Fox sparrows
The Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) is a large American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Passerella, although some authors split the genus into four species (see below).
Dark-eyed Junco
The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. It is a very variable species, much like the related Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), and its systematics is still not completely untangled.
Nelson's Sparrow
The Nelson's Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni) is a small sparrow. This bird was named after Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist. Formerly, this bird and the Saltmarsh Sparrow were considered to be a single species, the Sharp-tailed Sparrow; because of this it was briefly known as Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow.
Swamp Sparrow
The Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) is a medium-sized sparrow related to the Song Sparrow.
White-throated Sparrow
The White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is a passerine bird of the American sparrow family Emberizidae.
Golden-crowned Sparrow
The Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) is a large American sparrow found in the western part of North America.
White-crowned Sparrow
The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.
Spotted Towhee
The Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and formerly this bird and the Eastern Towhee were considered a single species, the Rufous-sided Towhee. An archaic name for the Spotted Towhee is the Oregon Towhee (Pipilo maculatus oregonus).
California Towhee
The California Towhee (Melozone crissalis) is a bird of the family Emberizidae, native to the coastal regions of western Oregon and California in the United States and Baja California Sur in Mexico.
Savannah Sparrow
The Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a small American sparrow. It is the only widely accepted member of the genus Passerculus. Comparison of mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3 sequences indicates that the Ipswich Sparrow, formerly usually considered a valid species (as Passerculus princeps), is a well-marked subspecies of ...more ↓
Northern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturæ in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos. The Northern ...more ↓
Sage Thrasher
The Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) is a medium-sized passerine bird from the family Mimidae, which also includes mockingbirds, tremblers, and New World catbirds. It is the only member of the genus Oreoscoptes. This seems less close to the Caribbean thrashers, but rather to the mockingbirds instead (Hunt et al. 2001, Barber et al. 2004).
Lazuli Bunting
The Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli.
Black-headed Grosbeak
The Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) is a medium-size seed-eating bird in the same family as the Northern Cardinal, the Cardinalidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, P. ludovicianus, with which it hybridises on the Great Plains.
Western Tanager
The Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
American Pipit
The Buff-bellied Pipit (Anthus rubescens), or American Pipit as it is known in North America, is a small songbird found on both sides of the northern Pacific. It was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 Ornithologia Britannica. It was formerly classified as a form of the Water Pipit.
Wilson's Warbler
The Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) is a small New World warbler. It is greenish above and yellow below, with rounded wings and a long, slim tail. The male has a black crown patch; depending on the subspecies, that mark is reduced or absent in the female. It breeds across Canada and south through the western United States, and winters from Mexico south through much of ...more ↓
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Four closely related North American bird forms—the eastern Myrtle Warbler (ssp coronata), its western counterpart, Audubon's Warbler (ssp group auduboni), the northwest Mexican Black-fronted Warbler (ssp nigrifrons), and the Guatemalan Goldman's Warbler (ssp goldmani)—are periodically lumped as the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata).
Palm Warbler
The Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
Yellow Warbler
The American Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia, formerly Dendroica petechia) is a New World warbler species. Sensu lato, they make up the most widespread species in the diverse Setophaga genus, breeding in almost the whole of North America and down to northern South America.
Blackpoll Warbler
The Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) is a New World warbler. Breeding males are mostly black and white. They have a prominent black cap, white cheeks and white wing bars. The Blackpoll breeds in northern North America, from Alaska, through most of Canada, and into the Great Lakes region and New England.
Townsend's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
Orange-crowned Warbler
The Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata) is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.
Nashville Warbler
The Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla) is a small songbird in the New World warbler family.
Northern Waterthrush
The Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) is one of the larger New World warblers. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada and the northern United States including Alaska. This bird is migratory, wintering in Central America, the West Indies and Florida, as well as in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. It is a very rare vagrant to other South American ...more ↓
Common Yellowthroat
The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is a New World warbler. They are abundant breeders in North America, ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico.
Bushtit
The American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) is the only species in the family Aegithalidae found in the New World, and the only member of the genus Psaltriparus.
Horned Lark
The Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), called the Shore Lark in Europe, is a species of bird in the genus Eremophila.
Cedar Waxwing
The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow bird named for its red wax-like wing tips. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, ...more ↓
Western Scrub-Jay
The Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica), is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern Washington to central Texas and central Mexico. It comprises three distinct subspecies groups, all of which may be separate species. They are California Scrub Jay (coastal), Woodhouse's Scrub Jay (interior US and northern Mexico), and ...more ↓
American Crow
The American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. In the interior of the continent south of the Arctic, it is referred to as simply the "crow".
Common Raven
The Common Raven (Corvus corax), also known as the Northern Raven, is a large, all-black passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance—although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various ...more ↓
Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch or Dark-backed Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria) is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American Goldfinch and Lawrence's Goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Carduelis sensu stricto.
American Goldfinch
The American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), also known as the Eastern Goldfinch, is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of the Canadian border to Mexico during the winter.
House Finch
The House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous by the American Ornithologists' Union but have usually been included in Carpodacus.
