Editor’s Note: When I was new to birding, I was puzzled by the hostility shown by many veteran birders to the Brown-headed Cowbird. Mere mention of a cowbird among sightings during the Christmas Bird Count compilation dinner would draw boos! This excerpt from San Francisco’s Natural History: From Sand Dunes to Streetcars, the new book by Harry Fuller, explains why. 
By Harry Fuller
One pernicious newcomer to the Bay Area avifauna is the Brown-headed Cowbird. Cowbirds are successful nest parasites. A female cowbird can lay dozens of eggs in a single summer, each in a nest built by another species. When the cowbird egg hatches, the chick pushes out the smaller nestlings of the host species and thrives with its co-opted parents. American Robins evolved alongside cowbirds, so robins can and do recognize and destroy cowbird eggs. Most western bird species do not have that ability, and are easily duped.
Brown-headed Cowbird by Eleanor Briccetti
The cowbird’s fledged offspring need forest patches and heavily grazed fields to feed in. Once followers of the large bison herds on the Great Plains, cowbirds quickly recognized the new source of plenty that arrived with settlers. The pioneers’ livestock left uneaten grain and the inevitable manure. That in turn attracted insects that fed the cowbirds. Elliott Coues described some cowbird flocks in the 1870s: “Every wagon-train passing over the prairies in summer is attended by flocks of the birds; every camp and stock-corral, permanent or temporary, is besieged by the busy birds, eager to glean subsistence from the wasted forage.” So, although originally confined to areas east of the Rockies, the cowbird has now overrun much of the North American continent.
Cowbirds on a bison at Vargas Plateau Regional Park in Fremont, by Jerry Ting
One cowbird was spotted east of Los Angeles in 1889. Then in 1895, Charles Bendire, a military man who took advantage of his various postings to bird intensively, reported seeing a few cowbirds in the Great Basin. By 1907, one was seen in Bakersfield; more were seen then in Fresno and Fremont in 1911 and 1912. In 1926, two eggs were found in a Common Yellowthroat’s nest at Lake Merced in San Francisco. By 1931 the cowbird had spread to Sacramento, and by 1934, to Berkeley, Oakland, and Yosemite National Park. By 1941, it had reached Eureka, and Tahoe by 1957. In 1969 Laurence Binford saw a Wrentit feeding a juvenile cowbird at Lake Merced.…

This is the first of three excerpts from San Francisco’s Natural History: From Sand Dunes to Street Cars, a new book by longtime Golden Gate Bird Alliance member and trip leader Harry Fuller.
By Harry Fuller
Nothing more clearly shows the vast changes in the bird life of San Francisco than the near extirpation of the California Quail since 1980. People have severely affected bird populations, mainly by hunting and by altering habitat, but in other ways, as well. In some cases, the change was just that humans stopped persecuting a species and it returned or thrived anew. For the most part, however, the alterations are in our use of guns, poisons, pavement, construction, landscaping, gardening, irrigation, and undergrounding of streams. The gradual warming of California’s climate is the broad background to habitat changes wrought by urbanization, agribusiness, and widespread irrigation.
All these activities continue to affect the natural world so that some species are favored over others. Some birds now found in San Francisco would not have been present before the Gold Rush. Others have vanished forever. There are on-going changes in the city, with one species appearing and spreading rapidly while another quietly vanishes.
Yellow Warbler is a species that has diminished in San Francisco. Photo by Michael Lee.
Bird species whose populations were eliminated or diminished in San Francisco include Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warblers, Pacific-slope Flycatchers that favor streamside forests. Among the birds common in pre–Gold Rush San Francisco but now greatly reduced or gone altogether are American and Least Bittern, California Quail, Scrub-Jay, Spotted Towhee, Bewick’s Wren, and Wrentit. It’s likely that Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Acorn Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, and California Thrasher were living in suitable habitat in San Francisco before the onslaught of agriculture and urbanization. Early accounts of San Francisco mention grizzly and black bear, cougar, elk, deer, jack rabbits, coyote, wolves and skunks. Only the coyote and skunk can be found here today. Introduced tree squirrels and opossum also thrive in the city.
San Francisco’s Natural History, by Harry Fuller
In 1899 Charles Keeler found Pygmy Nuthatches only in mountains, not in the Presidio or Golden Gate Park, where now they can be seen regularly. The raven, said Keeler, was “found generally in places remote from civilization.” Roosting by the dozens in Golden Gate Park, ravens are now prominent among beach walkers on Ocean Beach. In daytime, you may find dozens of them patrolling the sand for anything a careless person may have lost or left on the sand.…

By Miya Lucas

Walking on the shoreline of the North or East Bay, you have a chance to encounter one of our year-round residents that is also an endangered species – the Ridgway’s Rail.

Formerly known as California Clapper Rails, Ridgway’s Rails are secretive birds and you’re likely to hear them before you see them. Their clapping sounds remind me of hands clapping, like an audience applauding after a Berkeley Rep theater show.  When I hear them, I picture Ridgway’s Rails applauding each other after making a quick guest appearance.

The first time I saw a Ridgway’s Rail was at Arrowhead Marsh at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland. It was a blistering cold winter day as well as a King Tide, an unusually high tide that drives the rails onto higher, more visible ground. There were lots of people there observing Soras and Ridgway’s Rails, along with what seemed like a million shorebirds roosting on the broken pier.

Ridgway’s Rail by Miya Lucas Birders at Arrowhead Marsh in Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline during a King Tide on January 1, 2018. Note the high water level. Photo by Rick Lewis.

One Ridgway’s Rail in particular caught my eye. it was walking and preening on a large log about 100 feet from the shore, and seemed oblivious to the fifty or more humans observing it.  I was captivated by the vivid orange colors on his breast and his bright shiny eyes, and then he opened up his wings and displayed another blast of color on the inner wings.  He sang for us with his clapping call. It was love at first sight.

The Ridgway’s Rail is a very vocal bird. Although known for its clap, it has many different calls. During mating season, you may hear it clapping or purring like a cat. When frightened, it can shriek or cluck like a chicken. If something is threatening its chicks, it may sound like a Great Horned Owl, with a low “oom” sound.

Like owls, Ridgway’s Rail regurgitate pellets. They are not picky eaters and eat seeds, grasses, spiders, worms, insects, small fish, and occasionally small birds. They hunt by seeing or smelling their prey, although they also use their long slender bills to probe shallow waters. Like gulls, Ridgway’s Rails can drink salt water since they have salt glands that desalinate the water.

Living in the mudflats, they spend significant time bathing.…

By Pat Kirkpatrick
As a trip coordinator for Golden Gate Bird Alliance, I and my co-volunteer Rubi Abrams have had the opportunity to research and offer GGBA members a selection of inspiring national and international birding trips every year. Since I’m an intermittent birder and a lifelong lover of travel, this volunteer job at GGBA has been a perfect match, and it has enabled me to go on some memorable birding trips to Southern Oregon, Newfoundland, and, most recently, Peru.
I recently returned from a fabulous eight-day birding/cultural trip to Peru with Holbrook Travel – a preview of the trip GGBA will offer in October 2018. I joined a group of 12 avid birders and naturalists who shared my enthusiasm to see such a wonderful variety of birds in many different habitats, from fishing villages near Lima to 10,000 feet at Machu Picchu. Here’s a rundown of my trip. (GGBA’s 2018 trip will be similar, with an added emphasis on birding each day.)
We flew into Lima late the first night. After a buffet breakfast, we took a mini-bus to do some birding along the marshes on the way to a small fishing village, where we boarded a small motorized boat in Pucusana and toured the bay. We got intimate views of Humboldt Penguins, Inca Terns, and Peruvian Pelicans in breeding plumage.
Inca Tern with Peruvian Pelicans, by Pat Kirkpatrick
Birding by boat on the bay near Pucusana. Photo by Pat Kirkpatrick.
After lunch in Lima, we flew to Puerto Maldonado to make our way to the Amazon. Riding in several 4×4 vehicles to Las Piedras River, we boarded a long boat for a 90-minute ride to our lodge alongside Lago Soledad, located within the Amazon Research and Conservation Center. The cabins and main building are just steps from the lake, where we took sunrise and sunset paddle catamaran rides with our exceptional guide, Enrique (Kike) Castillo, to see numerous birds including the Agami Heron, Grey-necked Wood Rail, Rufescent Tiger Heron, and Amazon and Pygmy Herons. Giant sea otters cruised the river each morning and evening, and many different monkey species followed our progress from the treetops.
Lago Soledad has a canopy tower nearby, where we saw many species of flycatchers, woodcreepers, Blue-throated Piping Guan, White-vented Euphonia, and — my favorite that day — the Opal-Crowned Tanager. We had the opportunity to explore the extensive trail system in Lago Soledad that afforded sightings of Peruvian Recurvebill, Blue-crowned Trogon, Curl-crested Aracari, Paradise Tanager, Collared Forest Falcon and Cream-colored Woodpecker, among many others.…

By Maureen Lahiff
December 17 was the Third Sunday of Advent. We lit the rose candle for joy at the 5 p.m. Saturday evening Mass. But I got my best present of the season a bit early: the 77th Oakland Christmas Bird Count (CBC).
I’d like to share both facts and personal reflections about why the CBC matters so much to me and to ecology and conservation. This piece is in the spirit of the father of interpretive naturalists everywhere, Freeman Tilden, the author of Interpreting our Heritage, first published in 1957.
Tilden emphasizes that the ultimate goal of the interpreter is to inspire and to motivate people to protect habitat, animals, and as we would say today, ecosystems. CBC participants are already dedicated. Our annual day in the field and count dinner provide an opportunity for reinforcement and renewed inspiration. Especially in 2017, being part of the CBC reminds us that we are not alone, and that there can be gains as well as losses.

CBCs began in 1900

Ornithologist Frank Chapman of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (and an officer of the Audubon Society) organized the first Christmas Bird Count as an alternative to Christmas hunting contests. Instead of getting shot, birds would be counted. That first year, there were 27 participants at 25 locations on Christmas Day, mostly centered in the Northeast, but including one in Pacific Grove (now the Monterey Peninsula CBC). Now there are over 1,800 counts in the U.S., Canada, and beyond, with over 50,000 participants. There are about 140 counts in California. CBC season is December 14 through January 5. In the 1950s, CBC 15-mile-diameter circles became standardized; that’s an area of over 175 square miles.
Anna’s Hummingbird during Oakland CBC, by Doug Mosher

Oakland’s CBC began in 1938

Highland Hospital is a good landmark for the center of Oakland’s circle. Our territory includes Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda, Albany, Orinda, Lafayette, and Moraga. It extends out into the Bay as far as Treasure Island.
Oakland missed a few years, 1943 to 1945 due to World War II and civilian defense measures in the Bay Area, so the 2017 count was our 77th.
In 2014, 2015, and 2016, Oakland held the CBC record for number of field observers — 269 in 2016.
What makes this possible are our amazing area leaders, our participants, and, above all, our stellar compilers, Dave Quady and Bob Lewis.…