Bay Area researchers have mapped the DNA of the Northern Spotted Owl, gaining information that could shed light on how this threatened Pacific Coast bird is interacting with non-native owls invading its habitat.
The California Academy of Sciences — in collaboration with U.C. Berkeley, U.C. San Francisco, the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute —  extensively sequenced the bird’s genetic material and published their findings this month in Genome Biology and Evolution.
“The Northern Spotted Owl is special because it’s our backyard bird here in the Bay Area—found from Marin County all the way north to British Columbia,” said Dr. Jack Dumbacher, curator of ornithology and mammalogy at Cal Academy and a member of the Golden Gate Bird Alliance Board of Directors
Marked by white spots across a brown chest, the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis carina) vocalizes two to three short hoots followed by a longerhooooo from its perch on centuries-old trees in old-growth forests. But standing at a foot-and-a-half tall, this top predator is now rarely seen or heard. The bird experienced a rapid decline and has been federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act since 1990.
Northern Spotted owl in Marin County / Photo by Jack Dumbacher
“We’ve really seen a perfect storm with many factors complicating the Northern Spotted Owl’s recovery,” Dumbacher said. But this storm is unprecedented, so researchers are working to track how it unfolds in forests across the West.

Understanding a shifting power dynamic

Over the past half-century, the Barred Owl (Strix varia)—a close relative formerly found east of the Rocky Mountains—has flown onto the scene. Notable for its larger size and more aggressive behavior, Barred Owls have vertical dark markings against a white belly and a hooting call birders mimic with the words, “Who cooks for you?”
Barred and Northern Spotted Owls now have overlapping geographic ranges and compete with one another for prey and breeding territories. To complicate matters, timber harvest has reduced available habitat for both species. The Barred Owl is the scrappier of the two, enjoying a more varied diet and producing more young, more often—ultimately emerging as the super competitor.
Barred Owl (left) and Spotted Owl (right) / Photo courtesy of CNN
“We wanted to know how the Barred Owl’s range expansion will play out evolutionarily,” said Zachary Hanna, lead author and an Academy-affiliated student who is currently a PhD candidate at U.C.…

Editor’s Note: Golden Gate Bird Alliance came out in opposition last week to the proposal to relocate the Oakland A’s baseball stadium to a site adjacent to the Lake Merritt Channel, currently owned by the Peralta Community College District. We received prominent news coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in the East Bay Times, KGO-TV, and KCBS radio, and we published an op-ed piece in the East Bay Times. The following is adapted from the press release we sent out.

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The large-scale ballpark proposed by the Oakland A’s for the Peralta Community College District site could be disastrous for the abundant birds, fish, and other animals that rely on Lake Merritt.
Golden Gate Bird Alliance — which represents over 7,000 members in Oakland and nearby cities — opposes selection of the Peralta site because of the loud noise, intense light, trash, and harmful contaminants it would generate directly alongside the Lake Merritt channel, a narrow and vital waterway connecting the lake to the estuary and San Francisco Bay.
Peralta is the smallest and densest of the three proposed stadium sites. It is ill-suited for the huge footprint of a stadium plus parking, and the additional planned housing and commercial development. (See map below.)
Golden Gate Bird Alliance raises the following concerns over the site proposal:

• Lake Merritt, the nation’s oldest wildlife refuge and a public asset, is home to nearly 200 species, including ducks, herons, songbirds, nesting cormorants, fish, and other species.

Barrow’s Goldeneye pair at Lake Merritt / Photo by William Clark
2012 Kids’ Bird Count at Lake Merritt organized by Golden Gate Bird Alliance / Photo by Ilana DeBare

• Siting a ballpark at Peralta could jeopardize major improvements recently made to Lake Merritt through $198 million in Measure DD bond funding, including environmental cleanup, restoration of water quality, enhanced bird and fish habitat, and connection to the Bay ecosystem.
• Restoration of the Lake Merritt Channel has helped connect Lake Merritt and its ecosystem to the surrounding communities and public institutions, such as the Oakland Museum, Oakland Main Library, and Laney College.
• Tens of thousands of people would pour over the Lake Merritt Channel bridge at every home game to get to the stadium from the Lake Merritt BART station, dropping trash (including plastic) that is both unsightly and dangerous to wildlife.
• Loud noise from PA systems, amplified music, traffic, and crowds can frighten birds away from their habitat and into roadways.

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By Ilana DeBare

Last year, while planning for our Centennial exhibit, we conducted a survey of our most active volunteers to learn what they felt was unique about Golden Gate Bird Alliance. Their responses helped us shape the exhibit.

Now, as we enter the final months of our Centennial year, it seems an opportune moment to share some of their answers with you. Today we’re featuring responses about what people appreciate about GGBA. Tomorrow we’ll feature people’s hopes for our next 100 years.

Do these statements strike a chord with you? Do you have other or different ideas? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts!

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What do you respect, admire, or love about GGBA and its work?

The octopus-like involvement in a million things at once, with none of them spread too thin. Something for everyone.

One of the joys of GGBA is the different and diverse bird outings.  I enjoy birding and sometimes its a great experience as well as fun to go with other birders.

The members of GGBA are dedicated, hard-working, and enthusiastic birders that want to share their knowledge.

They actually succeed in protecting wildlife and the environment.

Takes guts to stand up to dog owners  : – )

GGBA docents at Lake Merritt / Photo by Eleanor Briccetti

It brings together a variety of people from disparate backgrounds around a shared interest in birds.

I admire the conservation and advocacy work, like Leora Feeney working so hard for so long to protect the tern habitat in Alameda.

I am grateful for the lawsuit that led to the restoration of Arrowhead Marsh.

Love the combination of ardent conservation with education and fun, too.

I have loved the enthusiasm and dedication of the teachers and leaders and other birders. It’s a pleasure to spend time with such people.

I am so proud of being involved with an organization that “bats above its weight.” For such a small budget and staff, we accomplish amazing things.

 

GGBA field trip to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park / Photo by Ilana DeBare

My favorite thing is meeting people from so many different backgrounds with a variety of different skills and perspectives yet a common love of birds.

The class teachers are AMAZING. The Gull is pretty great, too. The conservation achievements are impressive, too.

The Oakland Christmas Bird Counts… all of them, over the years.

GGBA is much more evolved and involved than thirty years ago in what it does to “connect birds and people.”…

By Alan Hopkins

With a bird list of more than 200 species, the Presidio has become a beloved site for Bay Area birdwatchers. The area has diverse habitats: ocean, bay, marsh, riparian, woodland, and more.

Founded in 1776, the Presidio was a military installation established first by the Spanish and held briefly by the Mexican Government. Then in 1846, after the Mexican American War, the Presidio became a holding of the United States. The 1,491 acre base was decommissioned in 1989 and became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1994. Like some other military bases, large tracts were left undeveloped and as a result, remnants of San Francisco’s original flora and fauna can still be found there.

My personal history of birding the Presidio goes back to the 1970s and birding with Mary Louise Rosegay when the base was still run by the army. One of the first female graduates of Cornell’s orinthology program, Mary Louise was an avid birder and advocate for the Presidio’s birds. She wrote the first bird list for the Presidio as well as countless letters trying to protect the birds and their habitats. I have a vivid memory of seeing my first Red Crossbill on a trip Mary Louise led for Golden Gate Bird Alliance. The Presidio wouldn’t be what it is today without Mary Louise and the young people she inspired.

Fort Scott at the Presidio / Photo by Alan Hopkins

Mary Louise wouldn’t recognize parts of the Presidio today. Since it became a national park, an enormous effort has been made to restore much of its natural habitat. Back in its time as a military base, Crissy Field was an asphalt lot surrounded by a cyclone fence, El Polin Spring was a 1950s-style picnic area at the edge of a landfill, and Lobos Dunes and Presidio Hills held large parking lots and ball fields. As restoration continues and new habitats become mature, the Presidio will look much different in the future than it does today.

There isn’t space to go into depth about all the Presidio’s birding hotspots, so here are some highlights.

Northern Coastline from Fort Point to Crissy Field

The Golden Gate Promenade runs from the Marina to Fort Point and offers spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, and the city skyline. Many of the Presidio’s 5 million annual visitors use this path.

Historic Fort Point has Pigeon Guillemots nesting in the gun turrets in the summer.…