Birds of the Alameda Shoreline
This guide includes over 50 bird species found along the beaches of Alameda. Look through the guide to see multiple photos of each species as well as range maps and information about habitats and feeding habits.
Mallard
The Mallard (/ˈmælɑrd/ or /ˈmælərd/) or Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae.
Eurasian Collared Dove
The Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) most often simply called the Collared Dove, is a species of dove native to Asia and Europe, and also recently introduced in North America.
Mourning Dove
The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family (Columbidae). It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also the leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually.
American Coot
The American Coot (Fulica americana) (a.k.a. mud hen) is a bird of the family Rallidae. Though commonly mistaken to be ducks, American Coots belong to a distinct order. Unlike the webbed feet of ducks, coots have broad, lobed scales on their lower legs and toes that fold back with each step in order to facilitate walking on dry land. Coots live near water, typically inhabiting ...more ↓
anna's hummingbird
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America. This bird was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.
Sanderling
The Sanderling (Calidris alba, syn. Crocethia alba or Erolia alba) is a small wader. It is a circumpolar Arctic breeder, and is a long-distance migrant, wintering south to South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia. It is highly gregarious in winter, sometimes forming large flocks on coastal mudflats or sandy beaches.
Dunlin
The Dunlin (Calidris alpina) is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions.
Willet
The Willet (Tringa semipalmata), formerly in the monotypic genus Catoptrophorus as Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family.
Long-billed Curlew
The Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) is a large North American shorebird of the family Scolopacidae. This species was also called "sicklebird" and the "candlestick bird". The species is native to central and western North America. In the winter, the species migrates southwards, as well as towards the coastline.
Whimbrel
The Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic North America, Europe and Asia as far south as Scotland.
black turnstone
The Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) is a species of small wading bird. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae. It is native to the west coast of North America and breeds only in Alaska.
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia, formerly Sterna caspia;syn. Hydroprogne tschegrava, Helopus caspius) is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either. In New Zealand it is also known by the Maori name Taranui.
California Gull
The California Gull (Larus californicus) is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the Herring Gull but larger on average than the Ring-billed Gull, though may overlap in size greatly with both.
Common Gull
The Common Gull (European and Asian subspecies; see below) or Mew Gull (North American subspecies) Larus canus is a medium-sized gull which breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe and northwestern North America. It migrates further south in winter. Its name does not indicate that it is an abundant species, but that during the winter it feeds on common land, short ...more ↓
glaucous-winged gull
The Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) is a large, white-headed gull residing from the western coast of Alaska to the coast of Washington. It also breeds on the northwest coast of Alaska, in the summertime. During non-breeding seasons they can be found along the coast of California. It is a close relative of the Western Gull and frequently hybridizes with it, resulting in ...more ↓
Western Gull
The Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) is a large white-headed gull that lives on the western coast of North America.
Forster's Tern
The Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) is a member of the tern family Sternidae. It breeds inland in North America and winters south to the Caribbean and northern South America.
Common Tern
The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. Breeding adults have light grey upperparts, white to very light grey underparts, a ...more ↓
Grey Plover
The Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.
American Black Oystercatcher
The Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) is a conspicuous black bird found on the shoreline of western North America. It ranges from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to the coast of the Baja California peninsula.
iNaturalist observation for the Alameda Shoreline
Black-necked Stilt
The Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to northwest Brazil southwest Peru,east Ecuador and the ...more ↓
American Avocet
The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae.
Horned Grebe
The Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) is a member of the grebe family of water birds. It is also known as the Slavonian Grebe. It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. P. auritus is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
western grebe
The Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe".
Snowy Egret
The Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas.
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos Islands.
Northern Pintail
The Pintail or Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) is a duck with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator.
American Wigeon
The American Wigeon, also American Widgeon or Baldpate, (Anas americana) is a species of dabbling duck found in North America. This species is classified with the other wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Anas, which may be split, in which case wigeons could go into their old genus Mareca again. It is the New World counterpart of the Eurasian ...more ↓
Northern Shoveler
The Northern Shoveler (/ˈʃʌvələr/; Anas clypeata), or Northern Shoveller in British English, sometimes known simply as the Shoveller, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Central, and northern South America. ...more ↓
Bufflehead
The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small American sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes.
Lesser Scaup
The Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) is a small North American diving duck that migrates south as far as Central America in winter. It is colloquially known as the Little Bluebill or Broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill. The origin of the name scaup may stem from the bird's preference for feeding on scalp – the Scottish word for clams, oysters, and mussels; ...more ↓
Double-crested Cormorant
The Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to Florida and Mexico. Measuring 70–90 cm (28–35 in) in length, it is an all-black bird which gains a small double crest of ...more ↓
brandt's cormorant
The Brandt's Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) is a strictly marine bird of the cormorant family of seabirds that inhabits the Pacific coast of North America. It ranges, in the summer, from Alaska to the Gulf of California, but the population north of Vancouver Island migrates south during the winter. Its specific name, penicillatus is Latin for a painter's brush ...more ↓
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 ↓
Western Bluebird
The Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) is a small thrush, approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) to 18 cm (7.1 in) in length.
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 ↓
Song Sparrow
The Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a medium-sized American sparrow. Among the native sparrows in North America, it is easily one of the most abundant, variable and adaptable species.
White-crowned Sparrow
The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is a medium-sized sparrow native to North America.
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 ↓
Myrtle 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).
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".
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.
