• The Vanishing Chorus: A Reflection on North American Birds in Decline

    by Kenneth Hillan

    Wilson’s Warbler, Roys Redwoods Preserve, Spring 2025 – Kenneth Hillan

    In the bustling and growing town of Paisley, Scotland—the place of my birth—a young Alexander Wilson once wandered the woodlands, unaware that his journey would lead him across the ocean to North America. From his letters home, what he encountered in the New World was beyond anything he had known or imagined: skies teeming with birds, forests alive with song, rivers echoing with nature’s pulse. Two centuries later, I reflect on Wilson’s experience—and the troubling question: what remains of that magnificent abundance today?

    On May 1, 2025, a landmark study, published in Science, revealed a sobering truth1. Of 495 North American breeding bird species, fully three-quarters have declined significantly in some part of their range over the past 15 years. The research, led by Alison Johnston and a team at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is based on an analysis of nearly 37 million eBird checklists submitted by observers between 2007-2021. The conclusions from the research, grounded in rigorous data analysis combined with national as well as local habitats, paint a portrait of a continent in quiet crisis. A summary of key findings and takeaways from their publication can be found in a one page summary here.

    Curiously, the decline is not always where one might expect. Some species appear to thrive in fragmented habitats—perhaps a mall here, a restored marsh there—offering the illusion of recovery. But these modest gains, while welcome, are dwarfed by losses in the vast habitats where these birds are most common, as populations are declining most severely where they are abundant.

    What sets this study apart is its use of fine-scale trend mapping—measuring bird population change in grids of approximately 10 square miles, rather than just looking across broad regions. This higher resolution has revealed a more nuanced picture: while most species are declining, many also show areas of local increase. For conservation groups like GGBA, this represents a powerful shift. It allows us not only to target urgent declines but also to identify and build upon local successes—guiding action where it can be most effective.

    In the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley, the study data highlights significant declines in wetland and coastal breeding birds, mirrored by parallel losses in the wintering populations of local species that breed in the North American Arctic.

    Here in California, birds that depend on wetlands for breeding have been among the hardest hit.…

  • My Journey and the Bay Birding Challenge

    Harmony Yu


    I’m Harmony Yu, a 13-year-old girl who loves nature. I have a rabbit named Spot, I go to eighth grade, and I plan on participating in the Bay Birding Challenge this year.

    Ever since I learned to read at age 4, I’ve always preferred nature books. It took me until second grade to read any fiction books at all, and even then, they were books with animals as the main characters, like Pax or the Warriors cats series.

    Over the pandemic, I found that learning over Zoom was not effective at all. For an avid marine biology lover, going for more than two days without being able to see sharks in person was unbearable. I needed another way to learn about them and understand them better, so I decided to learn biology on Khan Academy. After all, if I were to become a biologist like I had hoped, I would need those skills, and I couldn’t wait to start as soon as possible. In my ample free time, I managed to finish high school biology within the school year. Hiking was a luxury back then, since everyone was quaking in their boots at the mention of COVID. Despite having Seek on my phone, there were only so many things I could identify around me, since I didn’t have a camera (yet!). Besides, I had already memorized most of the plants around the house and a few birds. Only my rabbits, Spot and Venus (RIP Venus, she died of pneumonia in June 2023), and feeding peanuts to the wildlife outside, gave me nonhuman animal interactionssomething interesting to interact with.

    After taking an online course about creative writing, another weapon against boredom, I decided to try writing a book myself. My parents promised me to publish it if I could actually do it, not expecting anything beyond a frivolous ramble. Surprising everyone (including myself), my first book, Blizzard in a Rainforest, came out in the summer of 2021, advocating against illegal pet trafficking from the point of view of a Ssnow Lleopard that had gotten cubnapped, shipped off to a rainforest, and left to fend for herself in a completely foreign environment.

    Emboldened by my success, I decided to write Bubble Up in a Kelp Forest the following year, which was about otters’ vital role in marine ecosystems. Having recently been reading up on otters, I figured I needed to write something.…

  • Profile of a Lifelong Birder – Betty Carson (1930 – 2025)

    By Ann Carson

    Many GGBA members got a glimpse into the life of my mother, long-time Bay Area birder Betty Carson, when they attended a book sale of her incredible collection after her passing in early March. With over 5,000 books in her library, on wide-ranging topics including African wildlife, Ancient Egyptian history, tropical ecology, California natural history and much more, her largest area of interest was birds, delighting and amazing the dozens of birders who came to browse. 

    My mother became a naturalist at an early age – shell collecting as a young girl on Southern California’s beaches and observing and recording notes on the birds in her San Fernando Valley backyard as a teenager. She moved north for college and earned a Zoology degree from UC Berkeley in 1951, followed by a Master’s degree in Biology from Oregon State and a second Master’s in Library Science from UC Berkeley. During her graduate years at Cal, she met and married my dad, Pete Carson, and they built a modest mid-century modern house at the top of the Berkeley Hills next to the vast open space of Tilden Regional Park. Pete and Betty raised three kids, all of us inspired by their love of the natural world. Family time for us involved frequent day trips to Marin County and its wild beaches, as well as camping trips in the Sierras. 

    Mom continued to develop her passion for birding and other aspects of natural history throughout her adult life. She was a unique individual, especially for her time. Never interested in fashion, fancy food or trinkets, she prioritized time in nature, travel and books. On weekends when we were little, for example, she sometimes treated herself to solo trips out to Alameda’s south shore, where she enjoyed witnessing the seasonal rhythms of the shorebird community while Dad watched the three of us for the morning. As we got older, she traveled further afield in search of birds and other wildlife, with regular trips to U.S. hotspots like Yosemite National Park, the Texas Gulf Coast, and Florida. She took dozens of international trips as well, logging nine trips to Africa and at least as many to South and Central America.  Each time she traveled, she conducted extensive research to prepare herself for the experience, gradually accumulating an impressive personal library of books that she revisited each time she went back to a particular area.…

  • Creating Bird-Friendly Gardens: Native Plants for Bay Area Birds

    By Glenn Phillips

    The San Francisco Bay Area is a hotspot for bird diversity, with its mix of coastal habitats, oak woodlands, and urban green spaces providing refuge for countless avian species. But with habitat loss and climate change threatening bird populations, our gardens and yards have become essential sanctuaries. One of the best ways to support local birds is by planting native vegetation. Not only do native plants provide food and shelter, but they also sustain the insects that many birds rely on. By creating bird-friendly landscapes, we can help reverse the decline of species like the Allen’s Hummingbird, California Quail, and Wilson’s Warbler.

    The Importance of Native Plants for Birds

    Native plants have evolved alongside local wildlife, making them the best choice for sustaining birds and pollinators. Unlike non-native species, which often provide little to no ecological benefit, native plants offer nutritious berries, nectar, seeds, and host native insects that birds depend on for survival. The Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s Plants for Birds Program promotes the use of native plants in gardens and green spaces, helping to ensure that birds have the resources they need year-round.

    Top Native Plants for Birds in the Bay Area

    If you’re looking to make your garden a haven for birds, consider incorporating these native species:

    1. California Coffeeberry (Frangula californica)

    A favorite of thrushes, towhees, and mockingbirds, this evergreen shrub produces small black berries that are a valuable food source in late summer and fall. It also attracts insects that provide food for chickadees and warblers.

    2. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)

    Often called “California holly,” Toyon produces bright red berries that draw Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, and Northern Flickers in winter. It is a hardy shrub that thrives in various conditions, making it an excellent choice for urban and suburban gardens.

    3. Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)

    While the wild type can be unruly in a garden, low-growing forms like “Twin Peaks” or “Mayacama Mound” for coastal or inland sites respectively, look great and grow manageably. Host for over 20 species of lepidopterans, Coyote Brush, provides both food and cover.

    Coast Live Oak / ArtemesiaTridentat via creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

    4. California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum)

    With its vibrant red tubular flowers, California Fuchsia is a magnet for Anna’s Hummingbirds. It blooms in late summer when other nectar sources are scarce, ensuring a steady food supply during critical months. “Everett’s Choice” is a low-growing, green-leaved form first discovered in a garden in Berkeley. …

  • Exploring Cypress Grove

    Shorebirds, Waterbirds, and Conservation Science with Nils Warnock and Kenneth Hillan

    Cypress Grove, Marshall CA / provided by Nils Warnock

    Tucked away on the eastern shores of Tomales Bay, Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Cypress Grove Research Center is a hidden gem in the world of bird conservation. Normally closed to the public, this 100-acre preserve is a sanctuary for shorebirds, waterbirds, and other avian species, offering a unique blend of scientific research and ecological beauty. For those lucky enough to visit, Cypress Grove provides a rare opportunity to witness conservation science in action while being surrounded by stunning coastal landscapes and bird species.

    A Sanctuary for Shorebirds and Waterbirds

    Tomales Bay is a critical stopover site along the Pacific Flyway and has long been recognized as an important wetland area for wintering shorebirds. However, in the last 30 years, shorebird populations there have declined significantly—from nearly 16,000 individuals in 1989 to approximately 5,300 today, a 66% decline. Among the hardest-hit species has been our familiar Dunlin, a small Arctic-breeding shorebird that has seen dramatic reductions in its wintering populations in California.

    A Personal Encounter with Shorebird Conservation

    In August 2023, I had the privilege of spending a misty morning surveying shorebirds on Tomales Bay with Nils Warnock (Director of Conservation Science at Audubon Canyon Ranch). It’s also when I had my first-ever sighting of an American Golden-Plover. This remarkable bird had stopped briefly to feed on the shores of Tomales Bay while enroute from its breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska to its wintering grounds on the grasslands of southern South America; a staggering migration spanning up to 20,000 miles each year! 

    Yet, the American Golden-Plover’s presence was also a reminder of its tenuous history. Nearly wiped out in the 19th century by market hunting, the species has since made a partial recovery thanks to the protections offered by actions such as the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 

    Witnessing this resilient traveler first hand solidified my ongoing commitment to shorebird conservation. If we are to protect these extraordinary bird species, each with its own unique life history, we need longitudinal data—gathered through monitoring and research—to take informed actions to ensure their survival.

    Nils and David Lumpkin banding a short-billed dowitcher at the Walker Creek Delta in Tomales Bay / S. Jennings)

    Tracking Dunlin: Motus Wildlife Tracking System

    One exciting advance in shorebird conservation at Cypress Grove was the introduction of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, which helps us to understand the status and movement of species like Dunlin.…