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.
Cliff Swallow
The American Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) is a member of the passerine bird family Hirundinidae — the swallows and martins.
Purple Martin
The Purple Martin (Progne subis) is the largest North American swallow. These aerial acrobats have speed and agility in flight, and when approaching their housing, will dive from the sky at great speeds with their wings tucked.
Barn Swallow
The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings. It is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the Swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a ...more ↓
Tree Swallow
The Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) is a migratory passerine bird that breeds in North America and winters in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
Violet-green Swallow
The Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) is a small North American swallow.
Bank Swallow
The Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries, part of northern Asia and also North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America and South Asia. It is known as Bank Swallow in North America, and as ...more ↓
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
The Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) is a small swallow.
Brewer's Blackbird
The Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) is a medium-sized New World blackbird, named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer.
Brown-headed Cowbird
The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) is a small brood parasitic icterid of temperate to subtropical North America. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range; northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico in winter, returning to their summer habitat around March or April.
Bullock's Oriole
The Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii) is a small New World blackbird. At one time, this species and the Baltimore Oriole were considered to be a single species, the Northern Oriole. This bird was named after William Bullock, an English amateur naturalist.
Western Meadowlark
The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 8.5 in (22 cm) long. It nests on the ground in open country in western and central North America grassland. It feeds mostly on insects, but also seeds and berries. It has distinctive calls described as watery or flute-like, which distinguish it from the closely related Eastern Meadowlark.
Red-winged Blackbird
The Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north as ...more ↓
Tricolored Blackbird
The Tricolored or Tricoloured Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae. Its range is limited to the coastal areas of the Pacific coast of North America, from Northern California in the U.S. (with occasional strays into Oregon), to upper Baja California in Mexico.
Loggerhead Shrike
The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is a passerine bird. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related Northern Shrike (L. excubitor) occurs north of its range but also in the Palearctic.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
The Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens, formerly Parus rufescens) is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae.
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. A small bird, it has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a weight of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, ...more ↓
European Starling
The Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European Starling or in the British Isles just the Starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in ...more ↓
Rock Wren
The Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus) is a small songbird of the wren family. It is the only species in the genus Salpinctes.
House Wren
The House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a very small songbird of the wren family, Troglodytidae. It occurs from Canada to southernmost South America, and is thus the most widely distributed bird in the Americas. It occurs in most suburban areas in its range and it is the single most common wren. Its taxonomy is highly complex and some subspecies groups are often considered ...more ↓
Bewick's Wren
The Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) is a wren native to North America. At about 14 cm (5.5 in) long, it is grey-brown above, white below, with a long white eyebrow. While similar in appearance to the Carolina Wren, it has a long tail that is tipped in white. The song is loud and melodious, much like the song of other wrens. It lives in thickets, brush piles and hedgerows, ...more ↓
Marsh Wren
The Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) is a small North American songbird of the wren family. It is sometimes called Long-billed Marsh Wren to distinguish it from the Sedge Wren, also known as Short-billed Marsh Wren.
American Robin
The American Robin (Turdus migratorius), also known as the robin, is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering ...more ↓
Hermit Thrush
The Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-thrush.
Swainson's Thrush
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), also called Olive-backed Thrush, is a medium-sized thrush. It is a member of Catharus genus and is typical of it in terms of its subdued coloration and beautiful voice. Swainson's Thrush was named after William Swainson, an English ornithologist.
Ash-throated Flycatcher
The Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds in desert scrub, riparian forest, brushy pastures and open woodland from the western United States to central Mexico. It is a short-distance migrant, retreating from most of the U.S. and northern and central Mexico, spending the winter from southern Mexico to ...more ↓
Western Wood-Pewee
The Western Wood Pewee (Contopus sordidulus) is a small tyrant flycatcher. Adults are gray-olive on the upperparts with light underparts, washed with olive on the breast. They have two wing bars and a dark bill with yellow at the base of the lower mandible. This bird is very similar in appearance to the Eastern Wood Pewee; the two birds were formerly considered to be one ...more ↓
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
The Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) is a small insectivorous bird of the family Tyrannidae. It is native to coastal regions of western North America, including the Pacific Ocean and the southern Sea of Cortez, as far north as British Columbia and southern Alaska, but is replaced in the inland regions by the Cordilleran Flycatcher. These two species were formerly ...more ↓
Least Flycatcher
The Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), (also called chebec, or chebecker, after the sound it makes), is a small insect-eating bird. It is the smallest Empidonax flycatcher in eastern North America.
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.
